BOSTON – Local leaders in Boston are contacting the U.S. Postal Service with concerns about mail delivery in some neighborhoods, especially about possible delays in voting by mail.
Delayed and incorrect mail delivery
Richard Giordano and his wife Maggie Cohn carefully sort their mail. They live on the edge of Mission Hill and Jamaica Plain.
“It’s been bad because my bills are late,” Giordano said.
They are just one of many homes in the city complaining of delayed and often inadequate mail delivery to their homes.
“It almost always contains mail that isn’t intended for us,” Cohn says. ‘I get bank statements that are a year old. And I don’t know where they’ve been.’
During this weekend’s Allston Brighton Parade, City Councilman Henry Santana said he had filed an emergency hearing to investigate issues related to U.S. Postal Service delivery.
“I have submitted this to Councilmembers Durkan and Weber and it is my full intention to hold this hearing because this is an issue that is very important to our residents,” Santana said. “Get answers about why some neighborhoods get their mail on time and why other neighborhoods don’t.”
Concerns about mail-in ballots
Secretary of State Bill Galvin said he is concerned about the upcoming election and the more than 1 million voters in Massachusetts who plan to vote by mail.
“Many of the citizens I’ve talked to have told me that the mail service is terrible, that they don’t receive mail regularly,” Galvin said. “Clearly we expect the ballot vote to be handed to them and returned from them.”
The US Postal Service released a statement regarding mail delivered in Boston, saying in part: “The Postal Service was aware of a minor employee availability issue last week that we have resolved. The Postal Service is current and meets service performance standards…We are also recruiting, evaluating and hiring qualified candidates for open positions in the region with publications on our website.”
But for Giordano and Cohn, who pay their bills by check, a delay in service is impacting their daily lives.
“My mortgage payment came in yesterday, Saturday. It’s due tomorrow, so it’s a problem,” Giordano said.
