Thanks to Jeff Lindstrom for writing the following for us after discovering that writing for Wallyhood can be like not just getting Jesse, but being Jesse:
Neighbors. Love them or not we all have them. Some are life-giving to our neighborhoods, like Paul down my street whose parking strip is always so beautifully planted, or the neighbors who occasionally repaint the huge ladybug in the intersection of 49th and Burke. Others well, let’s just say we relish the day when the For Sale sign goes up. However, some neighbors won’t ever move, like the Post Office.
I’d been driving by for several years, noticing the Wallingford Post Office’s growing jungle of a parking lot and sidewalks. However, I didn’t pay that much attention until I actually moved our business into a small building on Stone Way, directly across the street. The piles of debris, leaves, un-mowed parking strips, and graffiti (almost every single sign is tagged) defined the relatively large Post Office property. I thought one day soon I’d see some landscaping company cleaning up. But, nobody came. Asking some of our neighbors, we learned that nobody EVER came. There hadn’t been any cleanup for at least the past three years.
The surrounding neighbors were talking about the disorder, but I discovered nobody I spoke with knew if anyone had said anything to the Post Office. I was finally able to track down and speak with the local Station Manger, Connie. Connie was surprised I was asking about their landscaping, and didn’t understand what the problem might be. She was gracious enough to humor me with a walk around their property and was also shocked to see how bad it was. She said she always parked in their underground lot, and hadn’t actually walked their property in “years”.
I politely pointed out that by City of Seattle ordinance, property owners/landlords are required to maintain the sidewalks and parking strips in front of their home or business. And, didn’t she want to be a good neighbor? Connie was very apologetic, and explained the problem to me. The Post Office has no landscaping budget, zero. The Union who does their maintenance purports to only be responsible for the INSIDE of the facilities, nothing outside. I checked back in with Connie often. Finally, she received permission for a “one time” cleanup. For the first time in several years, it looked great. Then, winter came, the leaves again started falling and piling up. Those are some HUGE trees they have! The sidewalks became dangerous, and I went back to Connie again and again. However, she indicated there would be no cleanup this time; she did not have permission for any further landscape expenditures. It got so bad, I hired at our company expense, clean up of the piles of leaves from their Northern sidewalks all Fall, for the safely of our employees and clients. Even the homeless guy Boggie living in the motorhome on 48th started raking leaves!
I pleaded with Connie for a permanent solution that would keep our neighborhood looking well kept, sidewalks safe, and comply with City requirements. Each time she said she was working on it, but nothing happened. I eventually reached out to Seattle Postmaster General, Trent McNeal, via email, but have yet to receive a response from him or his office. In desperation, I reached out to Eric at Wallyhood.org thinking he might want to do a story. He suggested I reach out to the Seattle Post Office Media contact Ernie Swanson for comment, which I did. (Thanks Eric!) Ernie immediately emailed me to let me know a cleanup would happen soon, and that an employee would also be working on it. Ernie also mentioned that Connie will be having an employee keeping the grounds clean, and be brining in an outside vendor to keep the trees, shrubs, and bushes looking good. So much for no landscaping budget.
When asked to comment on the dispute with the Union workers not doing landscaping, Ernie’s only response was “There is nothing more to add”.
It’s disappointing to have a neighbor not maintain their property, let alone the Post Office, a pseudo-governmental organization which I would expect to comply with City ordinances. But, thanks to Wallyhood.org and a little perseverance, I’m hopeful they will now get their act together. And, if we are lucky, the internal dispute at our Post Office will no longer continue to blight the surrounding Wallingford community. For now, their property and sidewalks look good after the second cleanup in three years, and I can stop spending my time standing in line to speak with the Station Manager. That is, unless the grass again gets long, and the leaves start to fall…………
Thank you! Now if they could just solve for the slow service and lack of postal supplies. I dread having to go in there, last time after a 15 min wait found they were out of stamps! I don’t think they should still be in business.
I use the PO for a PO box. I have noticed from time to time junk abandoned in the parking lot.
My 2 cents:
1.) Keep on the govmt
2.) Get Jesse- it’s been years
3.) people have a neighborhood clean-up.. it’s been done before
4.) ask the coffee places in the corner to supply neighbors who clean up with coffee and tasty treats
5.) pay that homeless guy to help- maybe cash/
6.)get it on tv
7.) get a school involved with a clean-up project
Thanks so much for working on this so diligently! But I have to put in a positive plug for our post office! I love it! I have been using it for…27+ years. The vast majority of those who work there/have worked there are fantastic, fast, friendly and helpful (can Sonja get an award as best employee ever of anyplace?!). Even when lines are really long, I look at the clock and RARELY have I ever waited even 15 (or more) minutes. Yes, it feels like a long time when standing in line, but check the clock..a 10+ min wait would be unusual. I consider it a hidden gem — given how far one would have to go to another PO in Seattle.
I think our post office is wonderful! the people at the counter are always gracious, very kind. The budget for the post office has declined and declined. Shibby, I suggest you go to the U.District post office, or the Ballard P.O. to see what a gem we have here in Wallingford.
Coco,
-Who is Jesse? Maybe I missed something in the article.
-Yes, I would be very happy to help with a neighborhood cleanup. In the spring and in the fall.
-That is nice idea about the coffee place offering coffee to the clean up people Or at least, water.
-I am not sure of the physical capabilities of the homeless guy. He could join us in the cleanup, and we can pay him that way.
-probably TV would not result in much action Probably Wallyhood or Next-door would be better.
-great idea about checking with the schools, however, it would need a small number of kids. And I am sure they have 1 million liability rules (:
I love our post office.
We have a federal government who is cutting budgets on lots of things. Roads, infrastructure, parks, and more. AND we also do have citizens who think they deserve everything but do not want to pay for it.
As an unrelated aside, this state is on of the eight (I think it is eight) states without a state income tax. It is very regressive to pay for schools, and many things with property taxes and sales tax. Sales taxes are very regressive. If someone earns five figures or more, sales tax is not an issue. If you earn 30K/year it is a big issue for them.
I support a state income tax, but it has been voted down by us.
The underlying problem with the Postal Service stems from a 2006 law, passed on a voice vote by a lame-duck Congress, that requires a $55 billion payment to a federal budget account over 10 years. Setting that aside, the Postal Service has been making a profit on its operations (stamp sales, parcel shipping) and revenue has been rising for the last 7-8 quarters.
The law has everything to do with pumping up the federal budget and pumping money out of the Postal Service. The pretext for the transfer of funds is to pay for retiree health premiums for the next 75 years. No other company or federal agency does that, or is required to do that. The normal practice is to fund such expenses on a current basis – which the Postal Service ALREADY does, in addition to the onerous $55 billion requirement.
So the Postal Service keeps announcing phony losses – it’s all on paper, no actual money changing hands. But postal management acts as if it’s bleeding money, and has cut staffing and even services. In January, they quietly changed delivery standards so that it now takes 2 days to get local mail delivered, instead of overnight, as we have been used to.
I’ve worked at Wallingford Station for since 1999, and we appreciate all the compliments. We’d like to keep a high level of service, and even add services, to strengthen THE most-respected public institution, which has been around since 1775 (240th birthday on July 26!).
iowagirl: Follow the link at the top of the article to learn about Jesse
we’ll! gee whiz! I scanned the entire article, EXCEPt the first page! duh.
i mean the first sentence.
Nice work, Jeff!
I am with Lauren! I have been using the Wallingford post office for decades(!) and they are so wonderfully patient and helpful with every single customer and NEVER lose their cool. And yes, their budget was cut and then cut again and cut again during the economy’s severe downturn that employees had to work long hours. And yes, let’s give an award to Sonya! We are lucky to have a post office in our neighborhood that keeps the long hours that it does (longer than many post offices). Thank you, David Yao, for explaining the constraints that laws place on the USPS. Having said all that, I totally get the issues with the landscaping neglect, and appreciate so much Eric’s effort at helping clean it up. Thank you, Eric. If ever there is a work party to help clean up the landscaping, I would be happy to contribute my labor.
I admit I have never noticed the grounds. But in general I am so grateful for this little post office branch. They have always been nice to me, and it’s clean and serviceable. I rearrange my schedule so I can use this one instead of the disgusting U District one even though it’s closer to work.
I am also very grateful to have this Post Office in the neighborhood. The people working there have always been very pleasant and helpful to me (including all the mail delivery folks I see walking to and from the location in the morning.) Just really nice people.
The option of being able to walk to a post office — and a library branch, and a bank, grocery and drug store (Bartells! 🙂 ) — is something I’ve come to value greatly.
Well, duh. Me? I just thought the landscaping had “matured” and they had lots of mulch 🙂 … I love it, except at Christmas Time, when I should be a month earlier.
Given the limitations the local post office employees have to work with, I think they do a GREAT job. Among other things, many (most) of the people who work at the Wallingford PO have been there for a long time and know many of the people who use this facility by name…..this almost never happens in government of any kind. The lines and wait times are not their fault, yet they are diligent and friendly, often dealing with very unreasonable and thoughtless people (us) with calmness and intelligence. I live in eastern Wallingford and my post office is in the U District. There is no free parking in the UDistrict. The lines are long all the time. My mail delivery person changes every month, the counter people change all the time, etc., etc.
Back to the main idea thread……landscaping. I would be happy to contribute in any way I was able, to make this community institution look nice. I guess the manager of this branch would have to get permission to let community citizens work on the property. Wallyhood may be willing to announce a work party day once or twice a year just to clean up. We could bring our yard waste carts for disposal. Someone could design a landscaping plan. People could take responsibility for implementation of parts of it…..like they do for neighborhood roundabouts. Maybe the Wallingford Community Council could do the organizing…..Based on the number of people who have responded to this thread, I would guess that we could turn out some people to help if someone was willing to work with the post office and organize something…..
So glad to see that most of these comments are positive. When the PO first went in at that location (mid-70’s?) we all thought it was going to be the WORST THING EVER!! But I really love being able to walk to pick up a package, or buy some stamps, etc., and have really enjoyed many of the staff there.
I know there’s not a 1:1 trade-off here, but I’d happily contribute to a neighborhood clean-up of their grounds if it would help preserve Saturday deliveries.
Another super happy customer at Wallingford PO (sadly, I go to another PO for work related mailing). Yes, it was where ‘problem’ employees were moved to; no longer. And Sonja is a very big part of that change. I would be more than happy to return the favor and contribute a day and some sweat to cleaning the grounds up. As long as we stayed to the public parts (not the loading dock), I think one Sunday morning in the Spring and one in the Fall would do it.
I’m perplexed by this conversation, in light of other conversations happening on this blog.
If a property owner is legally required to keep their grounds safe and clean, why are people talking about organizing a work party to do it for them? Would you do that for any other business in Wallingford?
On the “off-leash” thread in the forums, people are very adamant about what the rule is and that people should follow it. Period. Why doesn’t that apply in this case?
In the Wonkathon: Homeless thread, people are calling other human beings garbage and plotting to drive them out. Why aren’t we organizing a work party to help those neighbors properly dispose of their waste and make sure they have the services they need to survive?
In all three cases, the offending parties (sub-groups of: P.O., dog owners, homeless people) are creating hazardous conditions in public right-of-ways. And the neighborhood rallies to come to the aid of … the one with the most resources to solve their own problem? The federal government? Why is that?
In the case of the P.O., the federal government can afford to keep its property tidy. It just chooses not to in this case. Instead of doing it for them, it seems like it would be more effective to launch a campaign to put pressure on them to get it done, as Jeff did in contacting Ernie, and to restore funding to the Postal Service generally. I think it is due to lobbying pressure from the likes of UPS and FedEx that congress has gutted the USPS. Our corporatocracy at work.
I am happy to help as much as i can in a work party. Fun way to meet more neighbors. Just can’t relate to your comments, though. Interesting to have another view.
This is heartening. Does anyone have suggestions for possible help for an elderly person who has not cleaned up his yard in years? He can no longer do it himself, and it appears he doesn’t have the money to hire someone. Are there are services that help people with this? Suggestions?
Yes, Phinney or NEST, but there is a problem with Wallingford regarding this kind of help. We are too far east, for the Phinney Neighborhood Center boundary ,(Aurora) and too far west (I-5)for the NEST boundary , which is northeast Seattle, which has much of this kind of service.
There is a lovely Wallingford Senior Center, but it quite small, and not funded well compared to every other senior center. i cannot explain the details. It is a great place, and would like to do something similar for Wallingford and Green Lake, and it is certainly needed. But resources are much
I think the city also has Senior Service help, but can’t provide contact information without looking it up. There is a lot I cannot do myself now because of my really bad knees. I am fortunate enough to have an amazing neighbor, plus I hire someone to come to do the weeding.
And, perhaps some W’ford folks will be interested.
Thank you, Jeff, and three cheers for the awesome P.O. staff members!
#19 and #20: Check with Senior Services Information and Assistance @ 206-448-3110 – they may be able to put your older neighbor in touch with some help. Minor Home Repair, a Senior Services program @206-448-5751 and/or a Seattle program, “Rebuiding Together Seattle” @ 206-682-1231 may be able to help with yard work and other home repairs. Anyone who observes an older neighbor in a home that may benefit from some TLC can make a referral to Senior Services Information and Assistance and ask that they reach out to your neighbor.
19, 22, and 22 ? Sending elderly people to find assistance doesn’t work very well. The “help” is volunteer, mostly. Better idea? write a postcard (could be handwritten index card) to both sides of your block and invite them to a Party. A work party. Bring tools, a chair for your neighbor and a big tall drink, and ask him to come out at supervise. Do a big clean up. Then, hopefully, the neighbors will from time to time go back and do a little more work. Too easy! The people that lived in my house cared for our elderly neighbor as well as her yard – mowing, watering, planting, pruning – for 30 years until she died at 89. (She made cookies! and knew she could call us.) “Many hands make work light.” Those days are not gone, if one “just does.” (You just wouldn’t want to offend him, but handing him info on getting help might be the worst?”
Have you contacted Rep. McDermott’s office about the Post Office?
I am also a happy customer at the PO. I am curious as we’ve discussed this– the bushes directly in front of the po seem to be trimmed by someone- who?
Good point! I’ll look tomorrow. I have not really noticed any issues either, now that I think about it. Not any different as some of whose trees or shrubbery is growing over have the sidewalk! It happens almost overnight!!! It is really sneaky, things are growing so so fast!
Thank you for the information about Senior Services. Appreciate the tips. The neighborhood party is a nice idea too; however, doesn’t always work for a very cantankerous neighbor who has alienated many of the people in the neighborhood.
to 1) So due to unswept leaves, you’d like the Wallingford PO to close, so you could go to the U DIstrict PO, and deal with unswept IV drug needles?