TO:  MIKE FLORES, USPS Operations, Albuquerque, NM
       LISEO LEE ALCON, NM State Representative
       GEORGE K. MUNOZ - NM State Representative
       JEFF BINGAMAN, U.S. Senator
       TOM S. UDALL - U.S. Senator
       STEVAN PEARCE,  U.S. Representative
       ANDREA J. NICOLL, Postmaster, Ramah NM

We, the residents of the El Morro Valley NM area, who are currently under-served by the US Post Office in Ramah, New Mexico are extremely displeased with recent reductions in service made by the Ramah Postmaster, Andrea J. Nicoll.

1. Locking the Lobby area and preventing PO Box access, after 8 am to 5 pm, Mon-Fri, and 9am - 1pm Saturday. Doors locked all day Sunday!

2. Denying 24 access to the Outgoing Mail Drop (which is against postal regulations). Post office customers can only "mail" a letter during the above stated hours.

3. Removing the Public Bulletin Board

4. Removal of the trash receptacle from the lobby area.

It is evident to most local residents that Andrea J. Nicoll made all of these reductions in service for her own convenience, to make her job easier, with no concern for the inconvenience & hardship it causes Post Office Customers that she is being paid to SERVE.

In January 2011, the Ramah Postmaster Andrea J. Nicoll began locking the doors to the Lobby and PO Box access, after 8 am - 5 pm Monday through Friday, and 9 am - 1 pm Saturday. She did this despite many complaints to her and her Supervisor in Albuquerque (505- 346-8975) in the months preceding and after  the closure. She claimed that there had been vandalism, however post office customers have not seen any evidence of vandalism, and no specific crimes of vandalism have been logged with the local law enforcement. . She also claims that someone had been sleeping in the lobby. If this were indeed true, a simple remedy would be for local law enforcement to check the post office during their regular night time patrols in the Ramah Area.

It would even be acceptable to have the Post Office Lobby open daily from 6 am until 9 pm, but again this would inconvenience our Postmaster to arrange for the doors to be unlocked & locked outside of her normal work hours.  Or why couldn't she install a Keypad Lock on the lobby doors and provide the Unlock Code to PO Box Box holders only.  This would keep vandals out, and allow PO Box Holders access to their mail.   However, it still would not allow Non-boxholders to mail a letter other than during the Postmaster's normal work hours.  It seems that no other remedies have been considered , other than Locking the Doors whenever she or her assistant are not in the building.

Many local residents who rent a Post Office Box, commute to work in Gallup, Grants, Zuni or Pinehill and depart for work before 8am and arrive back in the Ramah area after 5 pm Monday - Friday. They are now restricted to a 4 hour "window" each week, Saturday, 9am - 1pm, to check their post office box. One of our neighbors, a Physician in Zuni, has been unable to pickup his mail for 2 weeks due to the closure, and finally had a neighbor pickup his mail for him. When the Postmaster was informed of his particular situation, she did not seem to care.  Another person who complained to the Postmaster about this problem, was told that any local who worked in Gallup or Zuni could get a PO Box at the Gallup of Zuni Post Office's   A resident of the Ramah area should not be required to have a Gallup ofr Zuni mailing address in order to be able to receive their mail.

Many locals live 10+ miles from Ramah, and to conserve time and fuel we combine our trips to Ramah to check mail with other tasks, events, purposes. The time that is most convenient for the postal customers to drive 20+ miles round trip to Ramah for combined purposes, usually does not fall within the post office lobby hours, that are most convenient for our Postmaster.

The Ramah Postmaster is also defying a US Postal Regulations, by not providing 24 hour access to an outgoing mail "Drop Box" (there is no outside mail drop). The original posted Lobby Closing date was postponed from Dec. 1 to Jan. 1, so that an outside mail drop could be installed, but then USPS Operations in Albuquerque gave the Ramah Postmaster permission in January 2011 to close the lobby, without providing a 24 hours outside mail drop. The Postmaster states that there are no plans to install an outside mail drop.  This is a callous denial of service.

The public bulletin board had been in the Post Office for many years and was very important to our rural community members as the only central public location to post public notices. Despite the public outcry, the Ramah Postmaster removed our Public Bulletin Board, without any good cause for doing so. It has been said that she thought it was an eyesore, however a year later the scarred wall where the bulletin board was removed from has not been re-painted, so tidy appearances can not be her real motive. There is no rule or regulation against a Public Bulletin Board in the US Post Office.

Before Andrea J. Nicoll became Postmaster, there was always a trash receptacle in the lobby area, where customers could discard unwanted junk mail. Shortly after she became Postmaster the trash receptacle was removed. This is another of the many reductions in service she implemented for her own convenience.

We find it strange and suspicious, that the Postmaster has arranged for the Post Office Lobby to be open ONLY during her normal work hours. The Ramah Postmaster's inconsiderate actions demonstrate an over-controlling, self serving, mean spirited, "anti-community" attitude that places priority on her own convenience, and disregards the hardship & inconveniences she is causing for the community members that she, as Postmaster is being paid to SERVE.

A large number of the petition signers (and many who have not signed the petition) called the US Postal Service Consumer Relations Dept. in Albuquerque at (505) 346-8975 over the last 3 months to complain, however our complaints went unheeded, and USPS operations gave the Ramah Postmaster permission to significantly reduce access the customer's Post Office boxes.

One alternative that is seriously being considered by various rural neighborhood groups is to install rural mailboxes and be included in the rural mail delivery routes. Unfortunately, this would result in increased costs for the USPS, and reduced income from PO Box rentals in the Ramah Post Office.

We ask that Mike Flores, USPS Operations Supervisor over the Ramah Postmaster Andrea J. Nicoll, require her to restore full 24 Hour access to the PO Boxes, provide 24 hour access to an outgoing mail drop, restore the trash receptacle to the lobby, replace the public bulletin board and to adopt a more service oriented, "pro-community" minded attitude (or face a community movement working for her termination & replacement).

We would like to have a written response addressing our grievances from the Ramah Postmaster, and Mike Flores her supervisor in Albuquerque.  If there is no satisfactory remedial action forthcoming from Mike Flores, then we shall pursue remedies through our elected State and Federal Government Representatives.

Thank You!

Sincerely,

The Patrons of the US Post Office in El Morro Valley, NM