Some Charlottesville residents got multiple deliveries of mail this weekend as the post office there brought in dozens of carriers from other offices to try and overcome the backlog of delayed mail.
Senator Mark Warner has kept a close eye on the Charlottesville post office since complaints of long mail delays brought him to the city in August. In a press conference on Tuesday, he said a weekend blitz has temporarily relieved the backlog.
MARK WARNER: Fifty-five additional carriers were brought in for Saturday delivery; 63 additional carriers were brought in for Sunday delivery. A number of constituents said they got maybe a couple deliveries on Saturday, a couple more deliveries on Sunday, but it still seems to be a bit spotty.
Some of those mail carriers are being kept on in Charlottesville on a temporary basis, but Warner said the post office has kept him in the dark about their numbers and assignments.
WARNER: To kind of get the confidence of the community back, the post office, USPS ought to be sharing more of this information with me as an elected official and, frankly, with you as the community. And these are the questions that I'm going back with.
He's especially frustrated that they have not yet hosted a job fair.
WARNER: I wanted to give the new postmaster a little bit of time … and again recognizing that the Charlottesville-Albemarle area, because of a very healthy economy, has a low unemployment rate, so consequently, it is hard to do the kind of recruitment that might be more successful in other areas. And here we are now, basically about six weeks after my visit, and frankly we have not seen the improvements I'd expected.
Warner has also not been told how many, if any, permanent hires have been made since his visit. For WMRA News, I'm Randi B. Hagi.
