“You’ve Got Mail!” is the familiar greeting that alerts America Online users to their latest e-mail delivery. Many have come to rely on that message, or at least look forward to seeing the raised flag on the iconic mailbox, yet another sign of a letter in the inbox. The same is true when it comes to “old-fashioned” mail delivery, except that it’s a little more personal. We depend on and, oftentimes, look forward to seeing the familiar face of our regular mail carrier who greets us with a neat pile of letters or tucks them into the box or slot and waves from the sidewalk. The regularity, the routine, the reliability is something we count on. Except that lately, in Pacific Palisades, things have been a little “off.” Residents have called and written letters to the Palisadian-Post, complaining about late, inconsistent delivery, and delayed or waylaid mail. On Tuesday, Sheryl Gardiner, officer in charge at the Palisades Post Office, and Postal Service spokesman Larry Dozier sat down to discuss these issues with the Post. Gardiner, who has worked in the postal service for 29 years, is on special assignment here until postmaster Joe Harris returns or another postmaster is assigned. “I’ve come in to identify the issues that are resulting in the service concerns that have been brought to my attention,” said Gardiner, who started here on October 12. “So whether I’m going to be here to troubleshoot and address and fix [the problems], or be here beyond that point has not been specified. So we just treat it as if I’m here to stay.” Gardiner came from the Wagner Branch in Los Angeles, and had previously served as officer in charge at the Gardena post office, at the Palos Verdes post office, and worked in Beverly Hills and Lakewood before that. “Sheryl has a knack for fixing problems. She’s a troubleshooter,” Dozier said. “We’re concerned about this office and the community. We’re trying to get the best person to get a hand on it and then handle it.” Palisades customers began contacting Gardiner with concerns during her first week on the job, which she said has helped her identify some of the factors resulting in these delivery problems. However, she emphasized that the issues did not arise overnight and will require some time to fix. “There’s been a change in staffing and personnel,” Gardiner said, referring specifically to the retirement during the last two years of two supervisors and the postmaster prior to Harris. “Some of the basic expectations either have not been effectively communicated or they’ve been lost in the transition. So, what I’ve been trying to do is train, develop, educate and reinforce the basic expectations that are going to result in service that the community used to receive a few years back.” She cited these internal concerns’the loss of focus on basic postal service rules and guidelines, and lack of communication among managers, supervisors, carriers and customers’as the primary factors affecting the Palisades service. Other factors include absentees, or employees who are absent because of illness or injury and whose routes have to be covered by their co-workers. Gardiner has approximately 45 mail carriers to deliver 28 routes in the Palisades. When an employee falls ill, Gardiner said, “the regular carriers will deliver their [own] areas’and they’re normally done by 4 p.m.’but because one of their co-workers is absent, they need to fill in and deliver an [extra] hour or two, which is exactly what results in the great majority of late delivery.” Gardiner has hired three new carriers in the last two months to address the late-hour delivery. However, because these new employees don’t receive their uniforms right away and are dressed in civilian clothing, customers have had trouble identifying them as mail carriers, especially after dark. “There are steps we can take to resolve that,” Gardiner said. “We can provide them with a particular piece of the uniform’a hat or shirt. They must be wearing their identification badge so customers can identify them.” In some cases, Gardiner said, if a mail carrier is unable to deliver mail because of restrictions relating to, for example, an injury, “we provide work for them in another area where they can assist and serve customers.” A carrier might work temporarily as a greeter at the postal store on Sunset. Those delivering mail are scheduled to leave the carrier annex on La Cruz beginning at 10:30 a.m., with others to follow at 11 a.m. and noon. “[The departure time of carriers] really depends on the composition of their delivery route and the volume of mail that that particular route received,” Gardiner said. “We have transportation that arrives throughout the morning, continually bringing us the mail so that we can continually process and sort it, preparing it for delivery.” A minimum of four trucks arrives each morning from the Los Angeles Processing and Distribution Center at Florence and Central, just south of Downtown. Gardiner said that the postal service adjusted the arrival times following the closure of the Marina Processing and Distribution Center in mid-July, so that the Palisades office would still receive its mail at the same time. “It’s rare that we receive the mail extremely late,” said Gardiner, who has worked in other offices affected by the closure of the Marina del Rey location and has not noticed a change in service. Dozier agreed that the fact that all Palisades mail now goes through the Los Angeles center is “not a reason why you run into late mail deliveries here.” He said that the postal service consolidated operations into the large L.A. center “to cut down on transportation, equipment and employee costs.” Some of the machinery and employees were transferred to the L.A. center, which “is large enough to handle Los Angeles in addition to everything that the Marina was handling.” Gardiner said that her last first-class mail is scheduled to arrive in the Palisades at approximately 8:30 a.m., so “the ideal is for our carriers to be coming into work at 8/8:30 and be back [from their routes] by 4:30/5 p.m.” She added that last Friday, the carriers returned to the office at 6:10 p.m., which is an improvement compared to past weeks (some Post readers say they have often received mail after 8 p.m.). “I’m seeing a turnaround and I’m optimistic,” Gardiner said. “I see employees who are committed to improving things and getting back to the way it was. I see improvements in different areas as I’m addressing the concerns with the customers. I think [the improvements] will be more visible and more obvious, probably after the holidays when the volume has dissipated.” Dozier, who has worked in the postal service for 35 years, agreed. “Sheryl has been given this assignment right in the middle of our busiest time of year, so some of the changes she has implemented’perhaps you won’t see them until the end of January because of this extreme mail volume.” Gardiner added, “I do want to apologize to any customers I haven’t gotten to yet.” She suggested that customers call her at 454-3475 or write to her at the post office, 15243 La Cruz.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
