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Bergman blasts USPS for calling off public meeting late

Demands new meeting be set soon on changes at Kingsford postal center

Following the indefinite postponement by the United States Postal Service of the scheduled public input meeting for the mail processing facility review of the Iron Mountain Processing and Distribution Center in Kingsford, U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman penned this letter to USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy:

“I write to share my deep discontent with the U.S. Postal Service’s recent decision to postpone the scheduled public input meeting on the agency’s mail processing facility review of the Iron Mountain Processing and Distribution Center, located in Kingsford, Mich.

“In the weeks following USPS’s Jan. 10 announcement that it would be conducting an MPFR of the Iron Mountain PDC, my office has been inundated with concerned citizens and businesses in the Upper Peninsula sharing their opposition to the proposed changes at the facility. Since then, I have shared with them the details of the public input meeting — scheduled for Feb. 8, 3 p.m., at the Kingsford Armory — and encouraged them to attend and voice their concerns to USPS directly.

“On Feb. 6, I was notified by an expectant attendee that the public input meeting had been cancelled. The next day — on Feb. 7 and less than 24 hours before the scheduled meeting — I was notified by USPS that the meeting was being postponed. USPS’s failure to provide adequate notice of postponement at the very least is utterly unacceptable, and frankly, unbecoming of a federal agency. I should not be notified of the postponement by a concerned citizen before USPS itself.

“Presuming USPS is unaware, many working Americans do not leave their place of work until 5 p.m. As the public input meeting was scheduled for 3 p.m. this (Thursday) afternoon, it can be assumed that many expectant attendees either took today off or planned to leave early to attend. The meeting’s sudden postponement is an affront to these expectant attendees, who planned their workday around a meeting cancelled less than twenty-four hours in advance.

“I respectfully urge USPS to reschedule this public input meeting as soon as possible. The Feb. 7 notice that the meeting ‘will be rescheduled at a new venue within the next several weeks’ is insufficient, and I request that USPS include my office in future rescheduling discussions.”

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