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Prove worth in dropping postmark

By EDITORIAL
Published June 17, 2006

Some St. Petersburg residents are having an identity crisis over a U.S. Postal Service study to move the city's mail processing operations to Tampa. Not only would there be a loss of jobs, but also a first-class letter mailed in St. Petersburg would bear a Tampa postmark.

"We'd be giving up a portion of the city's image," said Mayor Rick Baker.

A lot of Florida city names have already vanished from postmarks. The USPS Suncoast District stretches from Brooksville to the Everglades, yet there are only five postmarks. Everything mailed in Pinellas County north of Clearwater, plus Pasco and Hillsborough counties, already gets a Tampa postmark. Mail a letter in Sebring and the postmark will read Lakeland.

Clearwater residents long ago suffered identity theft because their stamped mail is postmarked St. Petersburg. The other district postmarks are Fort Myers and Manasota, a hybrid moniker created to placate Manatee County residents whose mail is processed in Sarasota.

So Baker probably won't find much sympathy for his complaint outside his city. He does have a point in questioning the justification for the move, however.

Postal officials say they have unused capacity at their processing center at Tampa International Airport, mainly because less first-class mail is being sent. Blame (or credit) e-mail, bill payment over the Internet and competition from private mail services. So the USPS could eliminate 19 positions and cut costs by consolidating the two processing centers into one, said Gary Sawtelle, postal spokesperson.

Prove it, Baker said. But the USPS can't or won't, saying its study isn't completed and refusing to produce a copy. In fact, the postal service was criticized last year in a Government Accountability Office report, which concluded that the USPS effort to eliminate excess capacity in mail processing "lacks sufficient transparency and accountability, excludes stakeholder input and lacks performance measures for results."

Few would argue against improved efficiency and lower costs at the post office, but postal officials should show the public it makes sense before a final decision. Then, if all Pinellas County mail is postmarked in Tampa, maybe postal officials can come up with a new place name that everyone can live with - St. Tampawater would be a little clunky, but Tampa Bay might do just fine.

[Last modified June 17, 2006, 05:32:39]