The U.S. Mail
| At the RBDA Annual Meeting on January 12, 2005, Jean Karo, a Bonny
Doon resident and USPS carrier, announced that she has been placed in charge
of overseeing mail delivery in Bonny Doon to try to help improve our service.
Jean said that in order to do that she must have evidence of problems
with the mail delivery. She requested that all Bonny Dooners having mail
problems (which is pretty much anyone who gets their mail delivered here)
should keep weekly logs detailing the problems.
This should include:
* Days when no mail is delivered
* Any mail you realize is missing
* Incidents of misdelivered mail (it was suggested that we
begin clearly noting "Sent to wrong address" with
the date
received on any mail misdelivered so that the correct
recipient is aware that this happened and how long
it took
to receive)
* Mail with a postmark indicating long delays in delivery
* Any time mail is delivered after 6:30pm
* If you leave your mail box flag up in the morning and the
carrier does not stop to pick up the mail
by the end of
the day
* Any other mishandling of mail
Jean encouraged us to provide as much history as we have documented, no
matter how far back in time. Send your logs to directly to:
The Postmaster
850 Front Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
If for some reason you don't trust the mail, fax them to 426-9154. Be sure
to put "Attention: Postmaster" on it because the fax is used by the whole
post office staff. In addition, if you have a particularly urgent problem,
you may call the PO at 426-8184.
Please be sure to give this information to your neighbors. The more
problems that are logged, the more clout the local PO will have to persuade
the regional Post Office authorities in Richmond, CA to act to improve
our service.
An assistant to our Congresswoman, Anna Eshoo, contacted RBDA chairman
Don Coyne this week after reading about the mail problems in the Highlander.
Rep. Eshoo interceded for us 2 years ago and service improved briefly.
Her assistant Seth said they would be happy to help again.
Please make copies of your weekly problem logs and also send them to:
Representative Anna Eshoo
698 Emerson St.
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Attn: Seth
|
 Mail
theft? Vandalism?
It's been happening all over the hill for years, and both the Post Office
and Sheriff's Dep't are well aware of it. But more citizen involvement
(that's you and me) will help correct the problems quicker.
If you've had mail stolen, it's imperative to call both the Sheriff's
department and the PO - they don't exchange reports. Get in touch
with the Sheriff and file a report (it's just a phone call) and get an
incident number so the PO can refer to that as evidence that the problem
exists. And then call the PO too - it will be very helpful in their efforts
to persuade the higher-ups that a locking unit is needed.
If you have questions about mail delivery up here, know that as of 5
May 2003, the Bonny Doon mail routes are housed at the downtown Santa Cruz
Post Office, and no longer in Scott's Valley. The phone number they say
to call is 800 275-8777. You might do better with 426-8184. Have patience,
or just go by the PO during business hours.
If you're in a smaller neighborhood, and can't hope for one of the big
mailbox things the PO may or may not offer, there's an assortment of lockable
boxes on the market. After a bit of my own market research, I just got
one I think is really good. Check here for more information: http://www.steelmailbox.com
 |
The one I particularly liked is the Heavybilt (left), because it locks.
This photo doesn't show the version I got, which has a mailslot in the
door. It also doesn't show the flag, though it does have a good sturdy
one (look under the wheel of the semi, below). It's a very high-grade item,
very nicely finished. It also costs about half of what the rest of the
competition costs. |
More info at http://www.steelmailbox.com/html/heavybilt_mailboxes.htm
and http://www.steelmailbox.com/html/features.htm
The big one cost about $150 with the shipping and all. At about forty
pounds, it is a hunk! Unfazed by baseball bats, Volvo semis and M-80s.
The locking mechanism is quite clever too: the door can be opened twice,
and locks the second time it's closed.
Their Iron Box is cooler, and probably even tougher (as if that's necessary!),
but doesn't come with a lock.
Richard Lee is the man who sells all of these, he's in Ohio.
More info at http://www.steelmailbox.com/html/heavybilt_mailboxes.htm
and http://www.steelmailbox.com/html/features.htm
Questions? Send me an email here.
(...and no, I am not getting any kind of kickback from steelmailbox.com!)
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