Postal closing plan draws ire of federal, county officials

? The U.S. Postal Service plans to close its mailroom in the Jackson County Courthouse – if it can successfully plead its case to judges, members of Congress and angry county officials.

The 40-year-old mailroom in the downtown Kansas City building serves county offices and those of the Jackson County Circuit Court, handling 5,000-plus pieces of mail daily.

Now, the Postal Service is preparing to reroute the mail to the federal building two blocks away. County officials say the move could delay deliveries by at least a day, and will cost local tax dollars to add staff at the federal building.

One judge jokingly said he would sign an order to block the move, but Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., and Republican Sens. Kit Bond and Jim Talent have expressed genuine concern. Cleaver and Bond contacted the local postmaster about the move this week.

“This is, simply put, poor customer service and a poor business practice,” said county spokeswoman Jennifer Berry, who added that the county and courts spend $1.3 million annually on postage and mail services.

Richard Watkins, a spokesman for the Kansas City region of the postal service, said the mailroom’s closing has been put off to early October to give county officials a chance to discuss the plan.

“We need to do a better job of explaining what (postal officials) want to do,” Watkins said. “What we did was poorly explain it … without giving them the opportunity to ask questions.”

Circuit Court Presiding Judge J.D. Williamson said he believes closing the mailroom will delay time-sensitive court filings.

“I want to kill it,” Williamson said of the plan. “We do not have the resources to go to a different site to pick up our mail.”