Congressman Rick Larsen visited an Everett mail processing facility earlier this week and that visit has him convinced the U.S. Postal Service's proposal to close the operation would be a blow to the region.
In a letter to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, he said around 300 employees process more than 1 million pieces of a mail a day. The loss of the facility would render many of these people unemployed or force them to relocate from their homes, he said. In addition to the jobs lost, he said it doesn't seem the Postal Service has adequately measured what a closure would mean for people and businesses depending on fast turnaround of their mail.
"I believe this would also put the USPS at a competitive disadvantage regionally because customers may turn to other sources for single day turnaround needs," he wrote.
The Postal Service plans a community meeting to discuss a potential closure from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday, Snohomish County PUD Building, 2320 California St. in Everett.
I'm interested in speaking with employees at the facility. If that's you, please contact me at dsmith@heraldnet.com. An earlier request by The Herald to visit the facility was denied.
