Golden Demands Accountability From Postmaster General DeJoy on USPS Closures in Second District, Agency’s Lack of Communication

WASHINGTON — Congressmen Jared Golden (ME-02) sent a letter last week to United States Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to express concern over Postal facility closures in the towns of West Paris and Etna, as well as the agency’s failure to communicate with community members or employees despite repeated inquiries. 

“Since 2021, the Etna Postal facility has been closed, creating life-threatening circumstances,” wrote Golden. “Many of the constituents of Maine’s 2nd Congressional District live in rural communities far from pharmacies, meaning to get access to critical life-saving medicines, they rely on the USPS and its facilities to access their mail-order prescriptions.”

“In June 2023, Etna constituents contacted my office to inform us of this situation,” Golden continued. “My staff immediately contacted our local USPS Congressional contact, who passed them on to USPS’s leasing department and finally to a senior government Relations Representative. Throughout June, July, and August, this Sr. Relations Representative could not provide me or my staff with any updates despite numerous requests. We received an update only when the inquiry was elevated to the Regional Director and the Vice President of Government Relations and Public Policy. This situation frustrated my constituents, myself, and my staff. Even more frustrating is the response we received, “Operations officials will not inspect the facility until next week, and only then will work begin to acquire and install the equipment.”

“The West Paris and Etna Post Office issues are representative of Post Office closures throughout the State of Maine,” said Scott Adams, General President, Portland Maine Area Local, American Postal Workers Union. “If the Postal Service fails to focus on being a public service rather than attempting to be a profitable business, it will fail in its obligations to the people of Maine and across the country. Thank you to Congressman Golden – his hard work and prompt response are much appreciated by the American Postal Workers Union.”

Golden noted that West Paris has encountered similar issues for nearly two years, and posed a series of questions to Postmaster DeJoy. Among these are requests for concrete timelines on each facilities’ reopening, how USPS plans to improve its leasing process, and what can be done to bring the agency’s response times to congressional inquiries in line with every other federal agency. 

Read Congressman Golden’s letter here.

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