QUESTION: Whatever happened to the plan to close five Hawaii post office branches? The U.S. Postal Service held meetings in September to gather public input regarding the proposal.
ANSWER: Duke Gonzales, USPS spokesman in Honolulu, said no official decisions have been made yet nor have actions been taken related to last year’s proposal to close postal offices.
"We are continuing to explore all of our options and continuing to pursue legislation from Congress that would allow us to reorganize our operations and restructure our finances," Gonzales said in a statement.
The postal offices that were being considered for shuttering were Kaimuki, Kapolei, Ewa, Hanamaulu on Kauai and Kukuihaele on Hawaii island.
Postal officials were looking at cutting costs across the country last year. The recession and a growing public preference for electronic mail, they said, conspired to act as a double whammy against an organization that lost $15.9 billion the year before.
Honolulu officials estimated the five closures would save the Postal Service $3.66 million over 10 years, a fraction of the overall Postal Service budget in Hawaii.
The Postal Service held nine meetings. At each meeting officials met a slew of customers who expressed disappointment about the inconvenience and fears about the impact on business and community, especially the potential hardship on seniors who rely on their local post office.
What’s more, hundreds of customers signed petitions opposing the closures.
After the meetings last year, postal officials said a final decision on the proposed closures wouldn’t be made until after the close of the comment period in October 2013. But so far there’s been silence on the matter.
We’ll keep you posted.
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This update was written by Timothy Hurley. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To…” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.
