If the East Chattanooga Post Office closes, local businessman Doug Stein said he stands to lose at least $10,000 a year.
The president of Stein Construction Company, he would not only be forced to send someone to a nearby post office for mail services, he’d have to relocate his post office box, incurring additional expenses for reprinting stationary and other business-related documents.
He is just one of hundreds of affected citizens who spoke out during meetings last week concerning possible post office closures. The Highland Park and Alton Park post offices are also under consideration.
“It’s quite clear from the turnout here that you guys are very interested in saving the post office,” Betsy Yoder, the area’s postmaster general, told the more than 120 people crowded into the standing-room-only meeting concerning the South Chattanooga facility.
“It’s not a comfortable situation; it’s not a place any of us want to be in,” she continued. “For you all the post office is obviously very important. For me, it’s not comfortable being the one bearing the news of what the post office is looking like.”
The United States Postal Service has lost $43 billion over the last five years, according to Yoder.
“We’re in dire straits,” she said, which is why smaller stations that do less business and are close to another station with enough room to absorb additional customers and carriers are being studied.
“At this point in time there’s not a station in Chattanooga with carriers and retail that makes enough to cover costs,” said Yoder.
Should any post offices be closed – which would not happen until at least May 15 – the carriers would be transferred to nearby stations. Yoder stressed that home delivery would not be negatively affected, although routes would likely have to be changed, which could mean a change in the time of day mail is delivered.
Closures would put supervisors and managers at affected stations out of a job. At the same time, more carriers would likely be needed to help make up for the additional distance covered by their routes. When questioned about how the additional gas required would affect the bottom line, Yoder said, “We wouldn’t do a consolidation or closure if it wasn’t going to save money.”
“It’s not purely economics; the effect on people and businesses will also be considered,” she said.
Many citizens bemoaned the effect it would have not only to customers, but also the community.
“What you’re talking about doing is taking something out of the community that makes a community cohesive,” said Eddie Cahoely during the Southside meeting. “Neighborhoods like urban neighborhoods have a difficult time as it is being cohesive and rebuilding themselves.
“It’s not just economic, it’s the very fabric of the community itself,” he added. “When you rip something out, it begins to show up in ways you don’t even realize, but recognize over time.”
Also speaking out at the Southside meeting, Maya Abernathy pointed out that her area has “already lost the police department right here. To lose the post office it’s going to feel like a domino effect – what are we going to lose next?”
There would likely be a loss on both sides should any of the post offices in question close, said many residents, who were not keen on having to drive to another station, especially if that station is the one downtown at the courthouse. Some cited traffic and a lack of parking; others the inability to drive or easily take a bus outside of their walkable communities, which have large numbers of elderly inhabitants.
“I’m one of the old-fashioned people who believes in customer service,” said Dianne Shrum. “I don’t know how you’re going to grow a business without customer service.”