Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, today called on the U.S. Postal Service to designate the Shaw Island Post Office in Washington state a Part-Time Post Office. In a letter to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, Larsen called the USPS proposed plan to reduce operating hours at the Shaw Island Post Office to four hours a day shortsighted and inappropriate for a post office located on an island that is only accessible by ferry. He called on the Postmaster General to designate the facility as a Part-Time Post Office, adjusting their operating hours to six hours per day ensuring the office is staffed by a Postmaster.

The full text of Larsen’s letter follows:

August 7, 2014

The Honorable Patrick R. Donahoe

Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer

United States Postal Service

475 L’Enfant Plaza SW

Washington, D.C. 20260-0010

Dear Mr. Postmaster General:

I appreciate your continued attention to issues of importance for my constituents in Northwest Washington state. I would like to direct your immediate attention to the Shaw Island Post Office in Washington state and urge you to designate it as a Part-Time Post Office. 

USPS recently proposed a shortsighted plan to reduce operating hours at the Shaw Island Post Office under the Post Plan. Residents were informed at the community meeting on July 31 that USPS plans to operate the Shaw office four hours per day under this plan. This is clearly inappropriate for a post office located on an island that is only accessible by ferry. The Post Plan establishes that offices more than 25 miles from the nearest alternative office will be maintained at six hours of operation per day, and USPS has frequently recognized the unique necessity of ferry travel as a similar qualification. Part-Time Post Offices are the standard for offices in similarly situated remote island communities. In official correspondence with my staff with respect to the post office located on Waldron Island, WA in October of 2012, your representative explained that under the Post Plan, the USPS operations team has determined that offices “that are on islands and have limited transportation services to the mainland…will have their retail hours adjusted to being open 6 hours per day.”

Travelling off-island is a significant investment of time and resources for my constituents, requiring multiple hours and a cost of $26.50 per car on the ferry. Many residents of Shaw Island are elderly and rely on timely delivery and accessible pickup for refrigerated medications at their local post office.

I look forward to your timely action to maintain service on Shaw Island. As always, I will continue to work with my colleagues to pass legislation that restores the Postal Service’s financial stability while maintaining high quality service for my constituents in Washington state. Thank you for your assistance with this matter.

Sincerely,

Rick Larsen

United States Congressman

Washington State, 2nd District

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