ICYMI: Davids and Bipartisan Lawmakers Press USPS to Resolve Mail Delivery Delays

Last week, Representatives Sharice Davids, Jake LaTurner (R-KS-02), Mark Alford (R-MO-04), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-05), and Sam Graves (R-MO-06) united in a bipartisan effort to address mail delivery delays in the Kansas City area. The group called on U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to act on a recent audit’s recommendations, which identified staffing shortages and inadequate management oversight as key factors contributing to the delays in the Kansas City area.

Conducted by the independent USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG), the recent audit examined operations at the Kansas City Postal and Distribution Center following reports of some of the nation’s slowest mail service in the nation. The audit identified several deficiencies, including delays in mail delivery, issues with package scanning, and poor property conditions.

This bipartisan effort to address mail delivery delays made headlines across Kansas:

KMBC: Missouri, Kansas representatives demand action from U.S. Postal Service on slow mail delivery

Improvements to Kansas City's mail delivery are not happening fast enough. That's the message from five bipartisan members of Congress on both sides of the state line.

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An audit from the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General came out this summer about delays at the Kansas City, Missouri, Processing and Distribution Center after KMBC’s reporting and demands from members of Congress.

The audit found nearly 100,000 pieces of mail delayed from the facility, with staff shortages and chronic absenteeism causing your mail to not show up on time.

“Absolutely, I'm concerned,” Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, told KMBC 9 Investigates on Tuesday.

Davids joined four other members of the U.S. House of Representatives on both sides of the state line to sign a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, calling it unacceptable that the U.S. Postal Service is failing to keep up with mail delivery.

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“I’m at my wit's end,” Davids said. “We should have seen results. Yesterday is when we should have seen them. And it's why we're pushing.”

Fox4: KC-area elected officials address ‘unacceptable’ USPS delivery delays

After months of complaints regarding mail services throughout the metro, locally elected officials announced they have joined forces across party lines to combat delivery delays and find solutions to the U.S. Postal Service’s growing problems.

According to a news release, “U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver II (D-MO-05), Jake LaTurner (R-KS-02), Sharice Davids (D-KS-03), Mark Alford (R-MO-04) and Sam Graves (R-MO-06) united in a bipartisan effort to address mail delivery delays in the Kansas City area.”

The group of elected officials has called on USPS Postmaster General Louis Dejoy to follow through with solutions to problems identified in an audit.

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Many residents across the area are not getting their mail on time, and sometimes, they’re not getting it at all.

The audit also found safety concerns regarding trucks and trailers parked at the docks without wheel chocks, preventing them from rolling away.

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“The findings in these audits and the recommendations are very serious things,” said Sharice Davids (D-KS-03). “Making sure that our scanning equipment is working, making sure that we’re properly staffed and making sure that the management practices are in place.”

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According to a news release, Kansas City has “some for the nation’s slowest mail service in the nation.” This has led these local officials to call upon USPS to implement the Office of the Inspector General’s solutions.

KCTV: ‘It is unacceptable.’ State leaders call for faster mail delivery ahead of Election Day

In a letter sent to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a group of state leaders including U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver II, Jake LaTurner, Sharice Davids, Mark Alford, and Sam Graves cite an audit from July that took a look at three post office locations in particular.

Those locations are Hickman Mills in Kansas City, Misssouri, Robert L Roberts in Kansas City, Kansas, and the Shawnee Mission Post Office in Mission, Kansas. The audit found there were delays in mail and issues with package scanning at all three locations and said some customers have had to make changes.

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In the letter state leadership says, “It is unacceptable that these facilities have fallen and are failing to keep up with the USPS standard of service. We wholeheartedly urge the leadership of the Postal Service to roll out the recommendations of the USPS Office of the Inspector General immediately to improve the service of the USPS in the Kansas City Metro area for our constituents.”

Kansas Reflector: Five Missouri, Kansas members of Congress send tough critique of troubled mail service to D.C.

Three Missouri and two Kansas members of Congress serving constituents in the greater Kansas City area forwarded a joint letter Tuesday to the U.S. Postal Service demanding action to rectify problems with missing or delayed mail and protracted periods in which no mail was delivered at all.

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Deficiencies at the distribution center touched on mail clearance times, delayed mail, late cancellations and dock scanning during an inspection period in May, USPS auditors said. The report said challenges at the three stations included document scanning, delayed mail and property conditions.

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“The audit makes clear that the USPS must do more to ensure Kansans receive reliable, timely mail delivery,” said Davids, who is seeking reelection in the 3rd District of Johnson and Wyandotte counties. “I will keep working across the aisle with my colleagues in the KC area to help fix these issues and ensure our postal service meets the needs of our communities.”

In recent months, the letter said, all five congressional offices received a growing number of complaints regarding inadequate mail service.

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The federal lawmakers said USPS ought to implement strategies to mitigate mail delays, ensure compliance with processing procedures, improve delivery logistics, and upgrade safety and security policies for staff at the mail facilities.

The representatives said residents of communities across Kansas and Missouri relied on consistent mail service and deserved better support from USPS management.

KMBZ-FM:

Congress members from both parties in Missouri and Kansas say the U.S. Postal Service is not correcting delivery issues fast enough. An audit from the Postal service office of Inspector General found nearly 100,000 pieces of mail delayed from the Kansas City processing Center.

Kansas representative Sharice Davids tells KMBC Nine News, somebody needs to be held accountable. “In some ways, I’m at my wits end. We should have seen results. Yesterday is when we should have seen them. And it's why we're pushing. We need people to know that postmaster General DeJoy is, frankly, dropping the ball on this.”

Five members to the House signed a letter to the postmaster general demanding action. People all over the metro have been complaining about slow and missing mail.