September 16, 2024

Castro, Bonamici, Matsui, Casar, and Moylan Urge Postmaster General DeJoy to Replace Neighborhood Cluster Boxes and Address Harmful Shifts in USPS Policy

WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20) led four of his colleagues – Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01), Doris Matsui (D-CA-07), Greg Casar (D-TX-35), and James Moylan (R-Guam) in a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy expressing bipartisan concerns about recent changes to USPS policy that have damaged public faith in the reliability of the service.

“For over a year, thousands of our constituents have not had functional mailboxes after USPS suddenly abandoned a longstanding practice of maintaining and replacing their community cluster boxes used for centralized mail delivery. Our offices have received many requests for assistance from constituents who are no longer able to count on USPS for reliable mail delivery. Many of our constituents – including seniors and people with disabilities - must now make inconvenient and lengthy trips to retrieve essential mail such as Social Security checks and medications from their local post office… The USPS cannot reasonably expect residents to suddenly bear the cost of maintaining cluster boxes. This shift in responsibility is not only poor practice but also poor governance. We urge you to work with the listed neighborhoods to install new and reliable cluster boxes,” the members wrote.

The letter references more than a dozen San Antonio neighborhoods that grappled with ongoing challenges related to USPS cluster box policy, including:

  • Oakmont Downs- Stable Knoll Dr., San Antonio, Texas 78249
  • Hunter's Chase II- Hunting Arrow St., San Antonio, Texas 78253
  • Parkwood- Hamlen Park Dr., San Antonio, Texas 78254
  • The Mirabella Apartment Homes- Bandera Rd., San Antonio, Texas 78228
  • Villages of Westcreek- White Cross St., San Antonio, Texas 78221
  • Levy Townhomes- Betty Levy St., San Antonio, Texas 78227
  • Northpark West- Park Vista Dr., San Antonio, Texas 78250
  • Great Northwest- Timber Place St., San Antonio, Texas 78250
  • Northwest Crossing- Sidbury Circle St., San Antonio, Texas 78250
  • Woller Creek- Woller Creek St., San Antonio, Texas 78249
  • Westover Elms- Talavera Trail St., San Antonio, Texas 78251
  • Hunters Chase- Woller Valley St., San Antonio, Texas 78249
  • Villas at Northwest Crossing- Still Forest St., San Antonio, Texas 78250
  • Meadows at the Reserve- Weston St., San Antonio, Texas 78251
  • Eagles Bluff- Eagle Ledge St., San Antonio, Texas 78249
  • Springs Vistas- Tiger Grove St., San Antonio, Texas 78251

The full letter can be viewed here.

Background on Congressman Castro’s Work to Protect Mail Delivery

In recent years, Congressman Castro and a broad coalition of bipartisan congressional leaders have pushed back against major operational changes at USPS that threaten effective and efficient postal services in San Antonio and nationwide. Shortly after assuming office, current Postmaster General Louis DeJoy implemented a number of controversial measures that delayed mail delivery and processing. After receiving complaints from his constituents about mail delays, Congressman Castro scheduled a visit to the main San Antonio post office to conduct congressional oversight. Ahead of Congressman Castro’s visit, as local news reported at the time, postal workers were ordered by their superiors in Washington to conceal between 30,000 and 54,000 pieces of delayed mail and obstruct Congressman Castro’s oversight.

Shortly after the visit, Congressman Castro voted for the Delivering for America Act, a bill that would have provided $25 billion in funding to help USPS with the operational challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic while blocking major changes to postal operations that delay or diminish mail delivery. The Delivering for America Act passed the House of Representatives but failed to pass the Republican-controlled Senate.

Two years later, with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, Congressman Castro voted to pass the Postal Service Reform Act, which requires USPS to maintain mail delivery six days a week and publish a weekly dashboard of performance data to help the public monitor service failures and identify mail slowdowns. President Joe Biden signed the Postal Service Reform Act into law in April 2022.

Despite the progress mandated by federal law, Congressman Castro and his colleagues have continued to receive complaints from their constituents about troubling new practices at USPS. In August 2023, Congressman Castro and a group of San Antonio congressmen wrote to DeJoy to express their alarm about a sudden decision to stop providing water bottles to letter carriers during this summer’s historic heat wave. After congressional pressure, USPS agreed that letter carriers would not be punished if they stopped for cold water during their routes but refused to resume water bottle distribution. In October 2023, Castro released a letter demanding answers and accountability from USPS after USPS suddenly ended a longstanding policy of maintaining the cluster boxes that San Antonio residents rely on for safe and secure mail delivery. Together with Congressmen Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) and Greg Casar (TX-35), Congressman Castro was also successful in halting a plan to shift mail processing operations away from Corpus Christi and McAllen to a centralized processing facility in San Antonio without a clear plan to avoid exacerbating recent challenges with delayed mail.

Congressman Castro is committed to protecting federal mail operations. San Antonio neighborhoods who are facing issues with mail delivery are encouraged to get in touch with his office by calling 210-348-8216.