LETTER: South Dakota depends on its postal service

Talk about it

To the Editor:

Just like we depend on good roads in South Dakota, we also need a strong Postal Service that delivers mail in a timely manner in our state. Good mail service is vital to our state’s economic infrastructure.

Yet, if the reductions in service and consolidations of operations proposed by the U.S. Postal Service are allowed to be fully implemented, South Dakota’s communities and economy will suffer.

The Postal Service wants to close five mail processing centers in our state, leaving only one, in Sioux Falls. Plus, it wants to close 80 post offices and end Saturday mail delivery. The Postal Service also plans to lower its delivery standards, in many instances going from the current overnight delivery to two- to three-day delivery.

In South Dakota, we need the Postal Service to succeed. Cutting service and operations is not the answer. We need the Postal Service to work with Congress, its customers and the public to develop a better plan and vision for solving the Postal Service’s long-term financial and business challenges. It can be done.

Make your voice heard. Send a message to the Postal Service and to our Congressional delegation that we demand a strong Postal Service that meets the needs and expectations of our communities and our state’s residents.

South Dakota Newspaper Association has started a grass-roots campaign to help South Dakotans make sure their voice is heard. Stop by your newspaper office or go online to www.deliverthemail.org to sign a petition. Add your name to a fast-growing list of South Dakotans who want to see the Postal Service succeed and deliver the mail in a timely manner.

David Bordewyk is the general manager of the South Dakota Newspaper Association, headquartered in Brookings.

Tags: post office, postal service, opinion, updates, letters, mail, usps