Letters to the publisher: Dear Mountain times,

Dear Mountain times,
Dropping my mail off at the post office has never given me concern. Now, with the changes that Postmaster DeJoy has planned, it does.The past several months I have experienced that change by mailing packages that should have taken two to three days at best taking almost a week to arrive. Packages were caught in a loop that took them from Brightwood to Tacoma and back to Sandy! Mailing just a bill to Milwaukie took 13 days. Asking questions at the post office about these issues has given me some answers: processes that are malfunctioning are not the fault of the local mail delivery people.They come from the top.
Finding out that the evening dispatch of mail to Portland has been discontinued was a surprise – and not a good one. For example, if you mail something first thing in the morning or drop it off by three, it does not go anywhere until the next morning. It used to be picked up and taken to Portland by late that afternoon.The blue mailboxes that read Saturday pickup is 3:30 pm? That, too, is no longer true.They are picked up earlier and again sit in the post office until Monday morning.
Dejoy has raised the price of those Flat Rate Boxes so much that people are looking elsewhere for shipping. A single stamp now costs 73 cents. Seems like destroying the competitiveness of commerce is the objective.
In my search for answers, I contacted Senators Wyden and Merkley as well as Congressman Blumenauer in Washington D.C. I have come to learn that DeJoy wants to consolidate and cut services and has plans to lay off 50,000 postal workers!
Rural communities like ours will feel the most pain of these cuts and increases. Many mountain residents rely on the mail for deliveries of medications they need in what used to be a timely manner. Small businesses based up here on the mountain that ship products will also feel the negative effects.
Many of our mail carriers are still working hard to do their job of delivering mail. Some of them might be in jeopardy of losing those jobs. Could we possibly be losing a couple of our much needed post offices here on the mountain in the near future?
Another issue is at stake. It is an IMPORTANT ELECTION year. We Oregonians benefit from the convenience of being a mail-in state. We can take our ballot to a drop box or bring it to the post office. This year it is imperative that the ballots we mail arrive on time.
I would encourage you fellow mountain residents to get involved. Write a letter or email our senators and make some noise! Let them know you support their fight on our behalf.
You can also thank your local mail delivery person for their hard work, work that many of us take for granted!
Mo Haddon