Laserfiche WebLink
' Small towns fight attempts to move post offices of 5 <br /> 411 <br /> "Remember this tip <br /> .. omie , : con dining... <br /> AlATIDD I ORD Published Mo .ay,June 21,1999 <br /> ;- Small towns fight attempts to move post <br /> offices <br /> 44110 startribune.com <br /> Nation'World Tom Hamburger/Star Tribune <br /> WASHINGTON, D.C. -- "It's belittling," says the mayor of <br /> DeGraff,Minn.,recalling the treatment his town, population 149, <br /> has endured at the hands of the U.S. Postal Service. <br /> When it comes to the postoffice,most people with complaints talk <br /> about long lines and delayed or lost mail. But Mayor Joe Simmonds <br /> of DeGraff, which is in Swift County in western Minnesota, and his <br /> counterparts in dozens of towns across the country charge that the <br /> Postal Service is taking the soul out of their communities by closing <br /> • almost 100 postoffices last year and consolidating or moving many <br /> others. <br /> Such indictments get little attention in <br /> big cities,but they have riled up enough <br /> people in rural areas that powerful <br /> organizations such as the Sierra Club t ,F <br /> have declared postoffice location a top <br /> priority in their fight against suburban <br /> sprawl. And members of Congress from PhotoDavid Brewster <br /> are offeringlegislation to Like that of many post offices in <br /> both <br /> parties g small towns,the future of the one in <br /> require more public participation in Arco,Minn.,population 100,is <br /> uncertain. <br /> Postal Service decisions. <br /> "Citizens have had more choices over which Elvis stamp they prefer <br /> than over the future of their local postoffice," said Rep. Earl <br /> Blumenauer,D-Ore., author of the PostOffice Community <br /> Partnership Act. "Relocations can end up tearing the heart out of <br /> historic downtowns." <br /> Blumenauer's effort--matched in the Senate by Sen. Jim Jeffords, <br /> R-Vt. --is opposed by the Postal Service as unnecessary. But the <br /> • legislation continues to pick up support from a variety of groups, <br /> including the Sierra Club, the National Trust for Historic <br /> Preservation, the National Association of Homebuilders and the <br /> National Governors Association. Those organizations see the <br /> i .�: i .: ._ ... .. ...cis_ :.:_^ ..__.....1 ...a ..:L._,_. ...._ <br /> http://w.../article?thisSlug=POST21&date=21-Jun-99&word=office&word=post&word=office 6/24/99 <br />