The U.S. Postal Service has until Friday to come up with a plan to reopen two rural California post offices, both of which have been closed for more than a year.
Those closures have cut off daily access to the mail for hundreds of residents in Niland in the Imperial Valley and Bolinas in Northern California, forcing some people to travel long distances to obtain critical medications and important documents.
The deadline for the postal service to put forward a reopening plan was set by U.S. Sens. Laphonza Butler and Alex Padilla.
In a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy last month, the lawmakers said the closures showed a broader pattern of lacking federal support for post offices in California’s rural communities.
“It’s unacceptable that for more than two years, Niland and the surrounding communities have gone without reliable postal services,” Sen. Padilla told KPBS in a statement. “I have called on U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and will continue to urge the USPS to address this issue promptly and to find a permanent solution.”
The Postal Service has faced mounting criticism over its ability to ensure service in rural communities.
Back in April, KPBS reported that residents of Niland and several surrounding communities have been cut off from daily access to the mail since the post office burned down in February 2022.
In May, the senators sent a first letter to the postmaster general, co-authored with U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert), asking for more information about the Niland post office closure. They said the ongoing closure was “unacceptable” and urged the agency to reopen it as soon as possible.
In June, the lawmakers sent a second letter citing three other California towns where the agency had left residents without direct access to mail for more than a year.
The post offices in Bridgeport and Planada were both hit by flooding, but eventually reopened. The location in Bolinas closed last March after a dispute between USPS and the building’s landlord and remains shuttered.
Each of those closures, the senators wrote, forced residents to travel long distances to get their medication, documents and other services.
“While we appreciate your acknowledgment of the issue and the work to reopen the post offices in Bridgeport and Planada,” they said in the letter, “the communities of Niland and Bolinas remain without permanent post offices and without a plan from USPS.”
The lawmakers gave the agency until July 12 to come up with a plan to reopen the two post offices that remain closed in Bolinas and Niland.
