IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. — Local postal union workers and the mayor of Imperial Beach rallied Monday morning over concerns the city's only post office is in jeopardy of shutting down.
"Imperial Beach rejects any changes to its post office, and rejects any closures from happening," said Mayor Paloma Aguirre. "We have only one post office here in Imperial Beach, if it's shut down it will impact everyone in our community. "
The city council recently passed a resolution condemning any changes at the local post office.
"This is not a business, it's a service just like parks and recreation, just like the fire department, just like the library. This is a service. Keep the service in the community," said Bob Waterhouse, President of American Postal Workers Local 197.
He said the United States Postal Service is not being upfront about the future of this location. He said they're relocating mail carriers to Chula Vista, leaving just two employees working in Imperial Beach. He said he couldn't imagine the lease on the building would be renewed for just two employees.
"When I asked the key question, if the lease is up do you plan on renewing it? And they will not give me a straight answer on that," said Imperial Beach Mayor Aguirre.
A spokesperson for USPS said the mail carriers are going to be moved to the 3rd Avenue location in Chula Vista, which is approximately six miles away.
Here's the full statement from USPS:
There is, unfortunately, a lot of misinformation floating around out there about our Imperial Beach postal operations. The misinformation is causing unfortunate--and completely unnecessary--confusion and anxiety within the Imperial Beach community. We appreciate you giving us this opportunity to set the record straight.
The most important fact is that the Imperial Beach Post Office is not closing. We’re simply relocating the mail carriers who work at the facility to the Chula Vista Post Office.
This internal tweak to our operations is similar to logistic changes that we’ve made over the years at countless other postal facilities, which are essentially back-office moves that do not affect service to our customers.
The relocated Imperial Beach mail carriers will continue to serve Imperial Beach delivery routes. They will begin their days at the Chula Vista Post Office but throughout the day they’ll be out and about in Imperial Beach delivering to their customers, just as they always have. Likewise, Chula Vista mail carriers will continue to serve their Chula Vista delivery routes.
There will be no changes to the retail and PO Box operations of the Imperial Beach Post Office. Imperial Beach customers who would normally pick up their undelivered packages at that office will continue to do so.
The relocation of our carriers is one of the initiatives of our Delivering for America plan, which aims to transform our network and upgrade our offices so that we are better positioned to serve our customers in Imperial Beach and across the country today, tomorrow, and long into the future.