Records that Chicago postal workers use to deliver the mail contain more than 84,000 errors — one of the major reasons mail delivery in the city is such a mess, postal officials told a congressional subcommittee Thursday.
Faulty records, outdated equipment, poor supervision and the “overall work culture” were among the explanations provided for the decline of Chicago’s mail operation, which U.S. Postmaster General John Potter dubbed the worst in the nation when he visited in April.
Potter visited Chicago again Thursday to report that the office here is in the midst of hiring 200 additional letter carriers, analyzing routes and updating equipment.
“We’re renewing our focus on the basics,” he said.
About 140 postal experts from across the nation have been assigned to analyze every aspect of the city’s operation. They have walked about half of the city’s routes so far and found that thousands of addresses on file are incorrect, Potter said.
Potter was joined by disgruntled customers, union leaders, local politicians and business owners Thursday morning at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse to testify before the House Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and District of Columbia, chaired by U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill).
Davis, who was a postal clerk in 1961, said he wanted the top local executives to testify last at the hearing so they could hear the litany of complaints from people fed up with Chicago mail delivery.
Dave Barlow moved into his Albany Park home 10 years ago and told the panel he still receives mail for the house’s previous occupant. His neighbors had mail delivered twice in a three-week span, he said.
Phyllis Unosawa said she’s tired of receiving social invitations after the date of the event has passed and getting two or three issues of a magazine at once.
And Karen Furnweger of the Shedd Aquarium, said some Shedd members received a seasonal newsletter two months after it had been mailed.
“Whether the customer is a not-for-profit museum or a Michigan Avenue store using bulk mail, neither one is getting its money’s worth on postage these days,” Furnweger said at the hearing.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said her office has heard from 120 frustrated postal customers in 2007.
“The list of grievances seems endless,” she said, noting they ranged from missing paychecks to late credit-card bills and license-plate stickers.
Mary Beth Awerkamp, elections operations manager for Cook County Clerk David Orr, told the subcommittee the clerk’s office mailed hundreds of sample absentee ballots this spring and more than 10 percent took a week or more to arrive at their destinations.
Gloria Tyson, Chicago postmaster since October 2006, said after the hearing that she appreciated the opportunity to hear again what customers need fixed.
An overhaul could take “a considerable amount of time,” but some communities should already notice changes, she said.
New letter carriers are out on routes and are returning to their delivery offices earlier, Tyson said. She’s hired additional customer service supervisors and is developing customer advisory councils that elected officials can contact with concerns.
These are good steps, said Gordon Milbourn, of the Postal Service’s office of the inspector general, which is conducting a full audit expected to be released this summer.
The audit’s initial findings show that a “dramatic turnaround” has yet to occur, he said.
For several weeks, inspectors have observed delays in processing about 2 million pieces of mail each day and groups of employees standing idly around plants, he said.
Inadequate supervision, poor planning and training and a “lack of urgency” by some employees are the broad causes of current problems, he said.
Barlow, the Albany Park resident, said he was encouraged by the changes announced at the hearing.
“I’m optimistic,” he said. “There are some new faces. Maybe things will get better.”
———-
aaguilar@tribune.com
