New Bedford Mayor Submits Citizen Petition Opposing Post Office Plan To Close Historic Downtown Location
Letter from 2 Senators and 1 Congressman request Postmaster General reverse decision to close Post Office
Post Office renamed after Historical Retired U.S. District Judge George Leighton (who turns 102 yrs. old in October)
New Bedford, Massachusetts—In a strongly-worded letter Mayor Jon Mitchell appealed the United States Postal Service’s decision to proceed with the relocation of retail services from the historic Downtown New Bedford Post Office at 695 Pleasant Street.
In addition to his letter, the Mayor submitted a petition signed by citizens expressing their opposition to the Postal Service plan.
“I believe the move is unwise, short-sighted, and potentially disruptive to the strong resurgence of activity that New Bedford’s downtown has enjoyed over the past several years,” said the Mayor.
At the suggestion of the New Bedford City Council, the Mayor invited the public to sign the citizen petition protesting the planned closure. Nearly 200 signatures were collected in the lobby of City Hall over the past several weeks.
The Mayor added, “The decision makers at the Postal Service should know that the Mayor, the City Council, and the people of New Bedford stand united on this issue.”
Cook County Criminal Courthouse
In addition, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey and U.S. Representative William R. Keating have also co-signed a letter that urges the Postal Service to reverse its decision and expresses support for maintaining the existing Pleasant Street Post Office.
PR note: As the Mayor explained to Joseph Mulvey, USPS Real Estate Specialist,the downtown post office is housed in a historically significant building named for the distinguished New Bedford native and retired U.S. District Judge George Leighton (one of the highest-ranking Cape Verdean Americans ever to serve in the United States government). In 1975 President Gerald Ford nominated Leighton to a seat on the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. On June 29, 2012, the Cook County Criminal Courthouse in Chicago was renamed in his honor as The Hon. George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building. Leighton will turn 102 yrs old on October 22, 2014.
In a letter to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey and U.S. Representative William R. Keating wrote:
In March, The United States Postal Service announced plans to eliminate New Bedford’s main post office, currently located at 695 Pleasant Street in the city. The plan would reassign the Pleasant Street location’s back office responsibilities to the USPS facility located on Mount Pleasant Street and move the office’s retail operations to a smaller, yet-to-be-determined location elsewhere within the city.
We wish to express our strong opposition to this proposal and our support for maintaining the existing Pleasant Street post office. This post office – housed in the historic Honorable Judge George N. Leighton Post Office Building, named in honor of a former U.S. District Judge and a New Bedford native – is located in downtown New Bedford, and plays a vital role in the surrounding neighborhood. New Bedford community members and city officials have expressed serious opposition to the relocation plan and the impact it would have on the city and its residents.
We understand that the Postal Service is confronting a range of challenges, and that measures must be taken to adapt. But this proposal will hurt USPS’s ability to serve New Bedford and will undermine the Postal Service’s important contributions to New Bedford’s downtown. We respectfully request that USPS reverse this decision and work to maintain the existing Pleasant Street post office.
see more coverage on this story at South Coast Today