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 being under-served by the US Post Office in Ramah, New Mexico are displeased with recent reductions in service made by the Ramah Postmaster.

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.

In January 2011, the Ramah Postmaster 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.  This was done 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 either of these reasons 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.

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 to ask a neighbor to pickup his mail for him.  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 or Zuni Post Office.   A resident of the Ramah area should not be required to have a Gallup mailing address in order to be able to receive their mail.

Many locals must drive 20+ miles roundtrip to Ramah, and to conserve time and fuel we combine our trips to Ramah for multiple combined tasks, events, purposes, including checking our PO Box.  The time that is most convenient for the rural postal customers to drive 20+ miles round trip to Ramah, usually does not fall within the new, restrictive post office lobby hours.

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. 

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, require her to restore full 24 Hour access to the PO Boxes and provide 24 hour access to an outgoing mail drop, and adopt a more service oriented, "pro-community" minded attitude.

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