NV Congressional Leaders Oppose USPS Plan To Move Mail Operations From Reno To Sacramento
Bipartisan coalition cites serious concerns related to elections, mail service reliability, the local economy, and jobs in the community
By Megan Barth, February 29, 2024 11:06 am
The Globe first reported that Republican Rep. Mark Amodei would be issuing a letter of opposition to the proposed USPS plan to transfer mail operations from Reno to Sacramento.
Rep @MarkAmodeiNV2 expected to release statement today against closure of Reno USPS facility.
All mail would be processed in Sacramento.
Including election ballots.
Yesterday, Washoe County commissioners unanimously passed letter of opposition. https://t.co/NBT0hCJYlV
— Nevada Globe (@NevadaGlobe) February 28, 2024
Late yesterday, Amodei was joined by Democratic Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen to voice their concerns in a letter sent to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. (see below).
Their letter of opposition follows a unanimous vote on Tuesday against the move from the Washoe County Commissioners and the related concerns expressed by Washoe County Interim Registrar Cari-Ann Burgess.
In an interview last week with the Reno Gazette Journal (RGJ), Washoe County interim registrar Cari-Ann Burgess admits she is highly concerned about mail-in ballots for the upcoming general election due to the expected move of the Reno mail processing operations to California. “It’s going to be terrible for our elections,” Burgess warned. “To be honest with you, I wouldn’t even put it in the mail,” she said of a November election ballot. “I would drop it off at one of our vote centers.”
In their letter, the bipartisan delegation highlights “the potential impact of such changes to mail service reliability, the local economy, and jobs in the community” and voice their frustration related to the lack of transparency related to the USPS decision.
On February 06, 2024, USPS released its Initial Finding of its Mail Processing Facility Review for the Reno P&DC, in which USPS determined it will likely downsize the Reno P&DC to a Local Processing Center (LPC) and that “the business case supports transferring mail processing outgoing operations” from Reno, Nevada, to Sacramento, California. In its review, USPS does not provide information about the study on which it relied to reach this determination, nor does it provide any analysis on local impacts of moving mail processing completely outside of the State of Nevada. With this in mind, we are concerned about the plan to downsize the Reno P&DC and move its operations to California, and frustrated by the lack of transparency from USPS about the process for making this significant determination.
They further note that the over 220,000 Nevada veterans who receive their life-saving medications through the mail may encounter significant delays, and further emphasize the winter weather conditions between Reno and Sacramento that would impede the two-day mail delivery standard, “a standard that USPS already struggles to meet.”
Echoing the concerns of Burgess, the elected officials emphasize their serious concerns of mail-in voting for Northern Nevadans:
Diverting their mail outside of the state and back again raises serious concerns. In this same vein, sending over one hundred thousand mail- in-ballots from Nevada to California before they are sent back to Northern Nevada is extremely concerning to election officials in the state.
Washoe County Commissioner Mike Clark told The Globe, “The USPS tried this years ago and received the public’s backlash and backed down. This second attempt was announced with not much time for the public to respond. The County Commission took the necessary steps of unanimously voting against this ill-timed and opaque decision made without the necessary time for public notice, comment, or supportive documentation to defend their decision.”
The Globe will continue to follow and provide updates to this story.
Letter-to-PM-DeJoy-re-Reno-PDC-2.28.24
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What is he doing ? This is nothing to screw around with and take their sweet time !!! Mark is a nice guy and he has suffered cancer and setbacks . I get that and sympathize with him. BUT we need to get on this NOW !! So I question who he is working for ?!!! We never hear from him, he is HORRIBLE at updating his Websites like others do ALL day long to their constituents . Most Congressional Reps update ALL day long. CRICKETS from Amodei . I have never had a rep so hard to get information from . His website updates are from 2023 ?!!! Either get with it, or WE will primary him out !! Sick to death of it and I am not the only one. We are tired and to be honest , most reps in this State suck at staying in contact with their constituents . McDonald , Chattah are basically the only ones doing anything and keep us updated . Beside those 2 ..the Nevada RNC is horrible to try and contact and get them responded . Lyon County which I live in, is nonexistent ….they never return emails, calls ect…to those of us that have been begging to help . I have been begging them for a good year to get back to me , and CRICKETS ?!! I am not alone either..people want no more to do with them tbh . We will not BEG them in hopes they MIGHT return a message or phone call . ENOUGH we are going to lose this State due to the incompetence of the leadership in this State . Everything I just wrote is God’s honest truth. One more quick example … the local paper here had the Democrat PPP listed and NOwhere was there the information about the Caucus For Trump listed ?!! Not on Facebook Lyon County RNC or in the local papers . I wrote the Pizen Times and asked why it was not posted ? The RNC did not follow through to make sure it was in EVERY single local paper or posted on news sources !! After I wrote to her, she posted immediately. Very nice lady, just the RNC in Lyon County is horrible at getting it done . We are very rural and that is WHERE we get our information . Get it together Nevada RNC !!! Chattah and McDonald excluded , and are working for the better of Nevada . They just need help …any Lawyers that can help them RNC ?!! Gonna has done much damage to this country and the RNC , people are leaving in droves to become Independent , hence do not know they will not be able to vote in the Primary in May . Most have no idea !! We are FED UP !!
Ronna *