Article Display

Closing Shaw post office?

  • Published
  • By Rob Sexton
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  Shaw's post office is among 13 in South Carolina on the new list of sites to be studied for closing.

The United States Postal Service has announced it may need to close about 10 percent more of its post offices.

An Associated Press story on July 27 said, "The financially-troubled agency announced (July 26) that it will study 3,653 local offices, branches and stations for possible closing.

"It's no secret that the Postal Service is looking to change the way we do a lot of things,"  said Patrick Donahoe postmaster general. "We do feel that we are still relevant to the American public and the economy, but we have to make some tough choices."

But many of the post offices closed may be replaced by contract or commercial postal service centers in local stores, libraries or government offices, Donahoe said.

Michael Miles, a USPS spokesman in Atlanta, said the post offices on the study list were chosen due to, ". . . a combination of things: offices that we term 'low activity offices;' their location compared to other post offices; also revenue that comes from them."

According to the AP report, "Over the last four years the Postal Service, which does not receive tax funds for its operations, has cut its staff by about 130,000 and reduced costs by $12 billion in an effort to cope with the loss of first class mail to the Internet and the decline in advertising mail caused by the recession."

A postal communications coordinator in the Columbia, S.C. USPS district office, Harry Spratlin, added, "At this point it's only a study. We've done this before in the past. There will be opportunities for public input, at which everyone will be welcome to express their opinions."

Spratlin declined to provide details comparing Shaw's use to the two closest postal centers in Dalzell and Sumter. Dalzell's post office is at 4235 Old Camden Highway, just four miles northeast. Sumter's post office, at 311 N. Main Street, is less than nine miles from Shaw.

When base personnel started to hear about the possible closure, the main concern has been mailing packages to loved ones on deployments and serving overseas according to 1st Lt. Ann Blodzinski public affairs officer.

People who use the Shaw post office and don't want to see it closed can make their opposition known to postal authorities, Miles said, via phone calls, email or regular mail.