SAN ANTONIO – The United States Postal Service is being asked to do more. At least 16 San Antonio neighborhoods have been identified as having ongoing issues with their cluster mailboxes.
“At least $30,000 or more in mailboxes,” San Antonio resident Kermit Bryant said.
Bryant lives in the Westover Elms neighborhood on the Northwest Side. He said their mailboxes, like many others around San Antonio, have fallen victim to being broken into and left with damages.
“I’m disappointed that they feel like we have no way to protect the box,” Bryant said. “They don’t put any type of security on the box, yet we’re responsible for it.”
“Postal Service guidelines specify that the purchase, installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of mail receptacles are the responsibility of the customer; or apartment property management companies and homeowners associations (HOA), where applicable,” a USPS official told KSAT.
When KSAT asked when the shift in responsibility from the USPS to the customer began, we were told, “I was not able to locate a specific timeline, but the Postal Operations Manual online does outline the customer’s responsibility for a mail receptacle.”
“That’s their property right there; it says the United States post office property, so why are we having to do that?” Westover Elms neighborhood resident Maria Vinton said. “If that’s the case, then why don’t we all just get our mailboxes? And they just have to go door to door like they used to.”
While the Westover Elms neighborhood’s Homeowners Association paid for repairs, the Northwest Crossing neighborhood said it isn’t responsible and is not paying, leaving some of the neighbors stuck going to the post office.
“One window and I’ve talked to folks who have waited two hours to get their mail, and that doesn’t pay well with elderly people, disabled people, etc. Why are you doing this?” said Ken Pfeiffer, president of the Northwest Crossing HOA.
Now, Congressman Joaquin Castro and four of his colleagues wrote to the USPS. They are asking the agency to do more.
“For over a year, thousands of our constituents have not had functional mailboxes after USPS suddenly abandoned a longstanding practice of maintaining and replacing their community cluster boxes used for centralized mail delivery. Our offices have received many requests for assistance from constituents who are no longer able to count on USPS for reliable mail delivery. Many of our constituents — including seniors and people with disabilities — must now make inconvenient and lengthy trips to retrieve essential mail such as Social Security checks and medications from their local post office. The USPS cannot reasonably expect residents to suddenly bear the cost of maintaining cluster boxes. This shift in responsibility is not only poor practice but also poor governance. We urge you to work with the listed neighborhoods to install new and reliable cluster boxes,” the members wrote.
When KSAT asked about the politicians’ letter, the USPS said, “The Postal Service will provide a written response directly to the Congress members, per our established process.”
