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Senator Feinstein, Berkeley and the Postal Service need your help

5/31/2013

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The threatened Redlands post office at sunset
If you are opposed to the sale
of America's historic post offices,
please ask Senator Dianne Feinstein
to take action.


Click here to send an email


Click here for a sample letter
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Report on Tuesday, May 21st Meeting in Senator Feinstein's
San Francisco office

Senator Dianne Feinstein recognizes that Congress must act to restore financial stability to the U.S. Postal Service. 

John Murray, Senator Feinstein’s field representative for the East Bay, met with Annie Hallatt, Ying Lee, Mike Lonergan, Sharon Maldonado, Harvey Smith and Margot Smith in Senator Feinstein’s San Francisco offices last Tuesday, May 21st. 

We were there to ask Senator Feinstein to join with twenty-seven of her Senate colleagues and become a co-sponsor of Senator Bernie Sanders Postal Protection Act of 2013.  We also asked Senator Feinstein to sponsor an amendment to protect historic post office buildings and their art, and to lead her colleagues in calling for an immediate moratorium on the sale of our historic downtown post offices.

But first we presented Mr. Murray with a stack of over 250 letters written by Senator Feinstein’s constituents and a petition list with over 400 signatures.

Mr. Murray advised us that as a matter of policy Senator Feinstein does not intervene on behalf of an individual community that may be adversely affected by a U.S. Postal Service decision.  Harvey Smith, president of the National New Deal Preservation Association, pointed out to Mr. Murray that in this case we are asking Senator Feinstein to act to help a broad number of California communities and to save what is a national heritage of historic town center post offices and New Deal Art.  

At least seventy per cent of USPS financial losses are due to a Congressional mandate to prefund retiree healthcare.  Mr. Murray assured us that Senator Feinstein not only supports changing the current formula for funding retiree health care but voted to do exactly that in a previous session of Congress.  Unfortunately the bill did not pass the House and Mr. Murray cautioned us that, in his opinion, the passage of postal reform remains more difficult in the House than in the Senate.

On an encouraging note Mr. Murray assured us that Senator Feinstein pays close attention to the concerns of her constituents and that the senator is briefed every week on all meetings with constituent groups.


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Momentum Builds for Sanders-DeFazio 2013 Postal Protection Act

5/22/2013

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Thanks to California Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard!
UPDATE ON 6/19/2013: 162 members of Congress are co-sponsors of H.R.630.  And 28 Senator are co-sponsors of S.316!
June 19, 2013: Yesterday Hawaii's Senator Mazie Hirono signed on as co-sponsor to Senator Sanders S.316.  And last week Los Angeles Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard became the thirty-first California Congressional Representatives to sign on as a co-sponsors to Pete DeFazio's H.R.630.

Nationally six Republican members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors of Pete DeFazio's amendment.  California has fifty-three Congressional Reps but all the co-sponsors from our state are Democrats.  Seven California Democratic Congressional representatives have not signed on. In Northern California, House Leader Pelosi, George Miller and Mike Thompson.  In Southern California, Xavier Becerra, Brad Sherman, Scott Peters and Henry Waxman.

We've been giving your letters to representatives of Senators Feinstein and Boxer.  Let's hope California's senators join our congressional delegation in supporting this common sense postal service reform.
Read or download the list of senators and a complete list of California congressional representatives.
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State Legislature Urges Postal Service to Stop Sale of Berkeley Post Office

5/22/2013

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(Sacramento) – Tuesday, May 21st, the California State Legislature took an unusual step by passing a measure that urges the United States Postal Service (USPS) to rescind its proposal to sell the Berkeley Main Post Office building, located at 2000 Allston Way. 

Senate Joint Resolution 12, authored by Senator Loni Hancock and Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, was initiated after the USPS unilaterally decided to relocate and sell the historic building that is located in the heart of Downtown Berkeley. 

Built in 1914, the Berkeley Main Post Office has many significant historical features, including  a bas-relief sculpture and a mural from President Franklin Roosevelt's public art program, a designation as a City of Berkeley Landmark (1980), a listing on the National Register of Historic Places (1980), and a listing on the National Register as a significant contributor to Berkeley’s Civic Center Historic District (1998).  

Unfortunately, the USPS continues to move forward with the sale despite the City of Berkeley’s requests to suspend efforts for one year to allow the City and USPS to work together to find an alternative solution.  Those efforts would put a historic building up for sale and close down a post office that serves over 100,000 people a year at its central downtown location, less than one block from one of the Bay Area’s major transit hubs.

Read or download Senate Joint Resolution 12.

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State Senator Loni Hancock
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California Senate Joint Resolution 12
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New deadline for appeals is May 22, 2013

5/6/2013

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An appeal must be postmarked by May 22, 2013, and mailed to:
Vice President, Facilities
Facilities Implementation – Pacific Area
1300 Evans Ave. Ste. 200
San Francisco CA 94188-0200

USPS will abide by their own rules

In a surprise development Monday, the Postal Service tacked up an announcement at the Berkeley Main Post Office that appeals on the sale & relocation must be postmarked by May 22, 2013. 
When the USPS approved the sale & relocation of our historic post office, they set an appeal deadline of May 7th. 
We cried foul and noted that fifteen days was not consistent with USPS regulations, was not the practice on the east coast and was a policy applied only in California. When we asked the Postal Regulatory Commission they said the USPS has the discretion to use either fifteen or thirty days. 
Then Congresswoman Barbara Lee's office asked the question.  And now Berkeley has the thirty days it is entitled to by USPS regulations.

Click to view or download the USPS posting.
  
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Assemblymember Nancy Skinner and Senator Loni Hancock join Mayor Tom Bates in calling for a one-year moratorium on the sale of historic post offices.

5/4/2013

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State Senator Loni Hancock and Assemblymember Nancy Skinner

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Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates

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Waiting their turn to mail their appeal
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Jesse Arreguin, Nancy Skinner, Kriss Worthington

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At a press conference on the steps of Berkeley's historic Main Post Office on Friday, May 3rd, Berkeley's elected officials spoke out against the Postal Service's decision to sell the landmark building.   Loni Hancock and Nancy Skinner stated: "We are deeply disappointed and concerned about USPS unilaterally making a decision to move forward with the sale despite the City of Berkeley's requests to suspend efforts for one year to allow the City and USPS to work together to find an alternative solution. In light of the legislation pending in Congress, S. 316 by Senator Bernie Sanders and H.R. 630
by Representative Peter DeFazio, there should be a moratorium placed on the sale of all historic post offices."

"Overwhelming public opposition to the sale"

Mayor Tom Bates was joined by Berkeley City Council members Susan Wengraf, Jesse Arreguin, Laurie Capitelli, Linda Maio and Kriss Worthington.  The joint letter from the Mayor and City Council to the USPS reads in part: "Berkeley's Main Post Office sits at the heart of our civic center and our city. To privatize this much loved landmark will diminish all that we have done to improve the downtown. It will also deprive citizens of their right to view the incomparable WPA murals, created with public funds and owned by all of us."

"Our question to USPS is: What does it take for you not to sell this beautiful public building?"

The letter from the Berkeley city officials was co-signed by Senator Hancock, Assemblymember Skinner and County Supervisor Keith Carson. 
Berkeley's Congressional Representative Barbara Lee's letter to the Postal Service objects to relocation of services: "I would also like to strongly emphasize that this building was constructed at a time when the Postal
Service was directly funded through taxpayer dollars and was designed specifically to be a post office. It
would not be serving its true and original purpose if it was something other than a post office. Relocation
is not a suitable option for my constituents, and I wholly agree with them and support their concerns"

"Please take a number"

At the conclusion of the press conference, our elected officials went inside to hand their letters to  a postal clerk.  Although they had obtained a number earlier, there was still a short wait for an available window at this always busy and well-patronized post office.
The press package includes the letter from Berkeley's Mayor and City Council, the letter from Loni Hancock and Nancy Skinner, and the letter from Congresswoman Barbara Lee.  Click to view or download.
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Press Conference 10 a.m. Friday May 3, 2013

5/2/2013

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Join our elected officials on the post office steps as they mail their appeal letter to the USPS!

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, State Senator Loni Hancock and the Berkeley City Council will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. Friday on the steps of Berkeley's Main Post Office.  Afterwards they will go into the post office to mail their letters of appeal.

Click to read the appeal letter from the Berkeley City Council and Mayor Tom Bates.
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Halt the Heist Rally 3 pm Tuesday May 7th

5/1/2013

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7 pm Thursday May 2nd Community Meeting at 2133 University Avenue

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Thursday May 2, 2013 at 7:00 pm

Come to a Community Meeting at 2133 University Avenue (near Ace Hardware).  Help plan our next steps.  Help plan for the Halt the Heist! Rally.

Tuesday May 7, 2013 at 3:00 pm

Halt the Heist! Rally
Tuesday May 7th 3pm
Music & Protest Noon to 5 pm Post Office Steps

It’s not just the post office
that’s being privatized.
Our schools, our public spaces,
parks and services are all at risk.
Join Us!
Help save our public commons!

Letter to the USPS Vice-President for Facilities from our community

"Together we are adamantly opposed to the sale of the  Berkeley Main Post Office.  We cannot imagine that anyone with any knowledge of the importance of this building to Berkeley would consider the relocation of its retail services and its closure. "   
click to read the entire letter
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    ABOUT

    The USPS wants to sell Berkeley's historic main post office. Citizens to Save the Berkeley Post Office is a grassroots group that has come together to block the sale of our heritage, stop service cut backs, and preserve living wage postal jobs.

    Our fight is not unique. Thousands of post office closures across the country mean the largest private auction of public history our nation has ever seen.

    Join the movement and spread the word. Our post office is not for sale.

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    Ten Easy Steps
    to Making a Music Video
    to Save Your Post Office!


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    Jac McCormick in NYC
    Fighting for America's
    Post Offices!
    WATCH THE VIDEO!


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    Tell Staples the U.S. Mail is Not for Sale!
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    Sign the petition to stop the sale of historic post office like Berkeley's Downtown Main!

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    Getting rid of middle class jobs is the end. Privatization is the means. Fox News doesn't keep their agenda a secret. Watch the video.

    [10 on Tuesday] 10 Ways to Fight for Your Local Post Office from PreservationNation

    October 2, 2013 letter from Ralph Nader to Senator Dianne Feinstein

    baha_letter_to_usps.pdf
    File Size: 222 kb
    File Type: pdf
    Download File

    sample_letter.docx
    File Size: 15 kb
    File Type: docx
    Download File


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