The U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General today released its report on former marketing executive Robert Bernstock in response to a Federal Times Freedom of Information Act request. Our story on his alleged staffing and contracting abuses just went online here, but you can download the entire report by clicking here. Our original stories that broke the news on four sole-source contracts he steered to associates he called “friends” can be found here and here. Bernstock announced his resignation May 12 and he officially left the agency June 4.
Browsing: Postal Service
The Postal Service launched a new Web site today to sell its vision for 5-day mail delivery (which lawmakers may be slowly warming to). Many of you probably know the highlights already: USPS thinks 5-day will save $3 billion per year, post offices and other facilities will remain open on Saturdays, etc. One thing that’s not posted yet, which I know is of great interest to the Postal Regulatory Commission, the Government Accountability Office, and other analysts: An official estimate of how much mail volume will suffer from switching to 5-day. As I said on Monday, I’m skeptical of the…
If you haven’t seen it yet: We reported on Friday that Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., proposed allowing the Postal Service to “pilot” 5-day mail delivery in a few areas around the country. Polls usually indicate that the public is okay with 5-day delivery; Durbin wants to see if those poll numbers hold up when the idea becomes a reality. One other item I wanted to highlight from that hearing (at which John Potter, the Postmaster General, was one of the witnesses). Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said several times that she’s worried 5-day delivery will reduce mail volume. At one point, she…
The New York Times posted a series of letters to the editor today offering suggestions as to how to solve the Postal Service’s financial crisis. The Postal Service wants to close some branches and end Saturday service, ideas that most members of Congress are reluctant to support. One reader, Jonathan Gyory of Winchester, Mass., suggested an intriguing solution: Rather than eliminate Saturday delivery, why not bite the bullet and reduce mail delivery to three days a week? Half of the postal routes would receive mail on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the other half on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Each letter…
In another outstanding piece of investigative journalism, the Daily Show’s Jason Jones uncovers the vast conspiracy linking the U.S. Postal Service, the Catholic Church, and Reservoir Dogs star Harvey Keitel. Read between the lines, people. [HTML1]
…but snow has halted postal services in the D.C. region today. That means no collections or deliveries for folks in DC proper, no collections or deliveries in Maryland and no collections or deliveries in Northern Virginia to Richmond and west to Charlottesville, according to USPS Spokeswoman Deborah Yackley. There are white out conditions out there, so that decision seems more than prudent. Stay off the roads folks.
For those of you in the Washington area, I’ll be appearing on News Channel 8 this evening to discuss my story about a U.S. Postal Service executive who steered sole-source contracts to his business associates, and the questions some are raising about those deals. Tune into Federal News Tonight at 7:30 p.m. to see the interview.
Sen. John McCain doesn’t know why the fiscally-strapped United States Postal Service sent him a folio of 2009 commemorative stamps, but he thinks the expenditure is “irresponsible.” In a Dec. 16 letter to USPS Postmaster General John Potter, McCain said the USPS has no business sending freebies to selected members of Congress while the organization has a $7 billion deficit and wants to close 170 post offices. Until the Postal Service no longer owes American taxpayers billions of dollars, I request that you refrain from spending limited Postal Service resources on unnecessary items such as engraved albums showcasing commemoratives (sic)…
Time for one of my periodic “I’m looking for postal employees…” posts. I’m working on a story about the Postal Service’s labor grievance process, and I’m looking for postal employees who have filed grievances against USPS. Don’t care what the outcome was — whether you won, you lost, or the complaint is still pending. If you’re interested in talking — anonymously, of course — e-mail me.
UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Sue Brennan from the Postal Service, who said the AP report isn’t entirely accurate. The Postal Service isn’t canceling the whole letters to Santa program, but local post offices that don’t have the resources to redact childrens’ addresses and replace them with codes — as is now required by the Postal Service — will have to opt out of the program. Large cities such as New York, Chicago, Washington and Philadelphia can afford the security measures and will still answer letters sent locally that are addressed to Santa. But many small towns,…