Post office off the chopping block

Not long after the last article I posted about the possible closure of the downtown Renton post office, it seems that it was saved from the chopping block and a Kent post office (Ken - Midway FSTA) was put up for scrutiny instead. Life has kept me a little too busy as of late to have posted this sooner. But I have kind and well informed readers to keep me on the straight and narrow.

The link here has a list of the post offices nationally that are under consideration for closure action. The listing for Kent is almost at the very end.

Due to the increase in computer use and other overnight postal services, the post office has seen a great downturn in business and it has adversely hit their bottom line. Will things turn back again in their favor or is this just a sign of the times? My guess is the later, though I am highly inclined to think that if we radically decrease our postal service there may come a time when we will be at a loss for not having preserved such an essential, albeit old world, service.

Send more letters

It wasn't too long ago that the terrifying thought of not having a downtown branch of the post office was brought to my attention, and I wrote a post about it here on 3/30 in the ole Picaroon. A couple of days later, The Renton Reporter also chimed in and while the public was now made aware of the possible pending sale, I am not certain that we knew quite what to do about it. I know that in the comments section on the article at the Reporter above, you will see that a couple of our concerned citizens were rushing in to the defense of what I think is a necessary service and element of any healthy and active downtown city area. But come on folks, we need a few more voices than that to make a difference. Even though I don't see it there in the Reporter comment section any longer, I feel certain that one of the council members had also taken up the gauntlet on this essential issue concerning the future well being and livelihood of our historic downtown Renton.

Now, Debbie Englund (of the RUFF Renton Offleash Dog Park fame) has sent me a memo that has recently been circulated amongst the workers at the post office and she wanted me to share it with the viewers here at the blog.

Click on the letter to view it more clearly!

There is an address and there is a mission. Want to have to drive up to NE 4th and mail a package, buy some stamps or view the contents of a mail box you have rented? Ummm - sounds like we should all just start sending more letters to me - and the very next one should be to the address listed above in the memo -

Seattle District Consumer Affairs
P O Box 90306
Seattle, WA 98109 - 9631

Let your thoughts about losing the vital service the post office brings to our zipcode be heard and what that would mean to you personally and to the grander scheme of Renton as a whole. Weigh in now while there is a window of opportunity to express how vital and necessary it is to have the post office remain exactly where it is.

This is important to share from the comment section here at the blog:

"As one of your DTR USPS letter carriers, I for one DEFINITELY DO NOT WANT THE DT Branch to close! I can not for the life of me see how it would save them money. The building has NO AIR CONDITIONING and requires very little upkeep. The extra gas, and wear and tear on the Postal Vehicles , not to mention the overtime because of extra travel time to and from our routes, would in my opinion, more than tip the balance in any revenue lost at this particular facility!!! So yes, PLEASE WRITE THOSE LETTERS - tell them to close the Cascade branch instead if they need to save money. A city's Downtown hub NEEDS a Post Office - it's just good community relations and service. Thanks, Barbara V. route 38, Dt Renton. "

Tax Day - Ugh! But a free taco could be good

Here's hoping that you already have your taxes filed and in the mail, or efiled via something like CompleteTax, or went somewhere and got some help. But if you didn't, remember that you at least should get a copy of the Income Tax Extension Form, as shown above and get that out by tonight midnight.

Public Libraries are one of my favorite places on a normal day, but today they are as good as gold for all of you. All of the forms that you need can be found there. The library computers are also set up to download and print the forms from the IRS website.

Renton Main Library
library.rentonwa.gov
100 Mill Ave. South
(425) 430-6610
Open until 9 pm

Renton Highlands Branch Library
2902 NE 12th Street
(425) 430 - 6790
Open until 7 pm

Only ONE post office will be open in our in our sortof immediate area until midnight to receive the tax returns. It is as follows:

Riverton Post Office
15250 - 32nd Ave. S.
Seattle (SEA TAC) 98188

Directions to get there: Take 405 South as if going to the airport. Take airport turn off, but take the Highway 99 at this point instead. Stay left and go straight. There will be a stop sign ahead and directly in front of that is the post office.


All other Renton post offices are only open until 5 pm today!!!

Hey - if you want a treat after all of that - you can have a TAX TACO for free! from Taco del Mar. TAXES SUCK, TACOS DON'T!! They are giving away free tacos to anyone who gives them their email address and then you can print a coupon and take it in for your tax treat. Get started by clicking on this link here.

Taco Del Mar
4004 NE 4th
(425) 271-8836

When newspapers and mail mattered

These photos were inspired by our latest talk of blogging, the possible loss of our downtown Post Office and the sad devolvement of the printed word via newspapers. This old home whose back door looks out onto Burnett Ave., still boasts a mail box that has a crook to rest a paper in and an old orange plastic box for a publication out of circulation. Will we ever return this way again, I wonder? It all feels just a tad sad - a time soon to be forgotten. Ink stained fingertips, papers that were iron pressed and hung on wooden racks at the local hotel or men's club, the rustle of the paper at the breakfast table and the fight over the funnies. Are we really ready to say this goodbye?

Wanna buy our post office?

When you move into a new neighborhood - a common selling point is being close to the public conveniences - park, school, library, post office. As Renton vies to be ahead of the curve, we may be endangering our original downtown area. I would say that the loss of our downtown post office constitutes as a step in that direction.

This recent scuttlebutt comes to me from a reliable source. The Downtown and Cascade branches of the post office are up for sale, with plans to create a center postal hub in the Highlands. Keep in mind that the brick building you see above, while not originally built as a post office, has been paid off for many years now and been serving the public for at least the last 50. Moving all the carriers up the hill will add an additional 45 minutes onto their work commute - that's extra mileage, so extra fuel costs, extra time for the carriers, so overtime - and a longer commute to just begin the day for many carriers. Oh fun. Now, how is this going to cut costs?

Our downtown post office is always in use - hard to find it when there isn't a line ( they in fact don't have enough staff to man the place), and provides P.O. boxes for many in the area, besides all of the basics services that we rely upon. In a day and age when "snail mail" is not used as often as it was in yesteryear, we still all have a need to send packages, buy stamps and pick up our mail.

I personally walk every week to the post office - I know of many others who do as well. God forbid if you don't have a car or the means to hike it up to the Highlands. I am not sure how that is going to work out for so many people that I know. Elderly people, people who don't drive, people who believe that a "downtown" means having a post office. In some towns in the Midwest, having a post office made you a town.

Apparently, we don't have much say in this matter. Sort of a done deal. Hear tell they went through something similar down Tacoma way and the citizens petitioned and had their say to keep the post office where it was - right in the heart of a community that still needs its services and wants to keep the beat of the unique community we still have (for now) strong.