Should the Post Office Move Some Sausalito Staff and Services to Mill Valley?

The U.S. Postal Service is floating two separate proposals that would move letter carriers and business mail services from the Sausalito post office to Mill Valley – but the change is not expected to impact most customers at the post office in the Alto Center, according to James Wigdel, the Postal Service spokesman for the San Francisco region.

"People will not notice a difference," he said Tuesday.

The first change of moving mail carriers in Sausalito to the Mill Valley post office at 751 Blithedale Ave. essentially means that once the mail is processed, it will be shipped on one truck instead of two, which will result in a savings in transportation costs, Wigdel said. Mail routes will remain the same, and no mail carriers will lose their jobs.

"We are constantly looking for was to reduce our costs," Wigdel said.

The proposal stems from the approved sale of the Sausalito post office at 150 Harbor Drive. The 13,200 square foot building is listed at $5.2 million, and a sale is currently in-contract. The Postal Service held a public meeting in March 2012 to discuss the approved sale and relocation of the post office, explaining that only about 4,000 square feet is required for retail services and selling the building is another way to save money.

But people will still be able to mail their packages and pick up stamps in Sausalito, and won't contribute to even longer lines at the Mill Valley post office. 

"We're in the process of selling the Sausalito post office, but we're not closing the retail unit," Wigdel said. "Retail operations will remain in Sausalito and as soon as we can announce the location we will." 

The second change involves merging business mail services in Sausalito with those in Mill Valley, meaning businesses and companies with large, bulk mailings would drop them off at the East Blithedale Post Office. The city of Sausalito posted a press release on its website about the Business Mail Entry Unit study that is currently underway.

The Postal Service is accepting public comments up until April 10. Comments can be mailed to:

Manager, Business Mail Entry
RE: Sausalito BMEU Feasibility Study
PO Box 77836
San Francisco, CA 94120-7836

Both plans are "a work in progress," and Wigdel wouldn't speculate on a time-frame for either, nor would he talk about the anticipated amount of savings before the plans have been implemented.

Although these changes are part of an overall plan to reduce costs, they're not related to the federal agency's May announcement to consolidate 140 locations by February 2013, along with a second and final phase of 89 consolidations that would begin in February 2014, Wigdel said.

Facing continued economic struggles, the Postal Service also decided to eliminate Saturday deliveries in an effort to save $2 billion in operating costs each year, but Congress recently thwarted that plan.

However, by consolidating Sausalito services will Mill Valley, there's still a sense of loss.

OurSausalito.com had this to say:

The folks who participate in the Historic Landmarks and Trees and Views meetings over the years know that there's a trick owners use when trying to get rid of something that other people are trying to protect. You cut off limbs or remove recognizable features one at a time over a period of years. Eventually the things that made the tree or building special are all gone, and it's easy to say, "It's old, rotten and ugly, we should just take it all down and start over."

Is the USPS doing the same thing to the Sausalito Post Office, stripping away functions until it's a stump that someone just needs to dig out and discard? We used the Sausalito Post Office twice today, and going to Mill Valley would have been impractical. Are we being too cynical?  

What do you think of the USPS proposals to move letter carriers and business mail services from Sausalito to Mill Valley? Let us know in the comments.

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