Meeting Report

Ms. Alberta Ellis, who was to conduct the meeting, decided to move the meeting to the back of the parking lot because of the numbers. Not only was there no seating or restroom facilities, there was no PA system. Most of the attendees could not hear what was going on. The postal service counted 110 after some people had left due to the chill breeze and their inability to hear questions or answers. Everyon else stuck it out, but were chilled to the bone and rather less than impressed by the way this Federal entity treated them.

The post office was represented by Alberta Ellis, Las Vegas postmaster and acting Post Office Operations manager for the Northern Area. Also in attendance were Barbara Wood, area media relations from the Albuquerque office, Officer-In-Charge Tony Renin from Las Vegas, and the Post master from San Jose, Darryl Garcia.There were also two female employees who were not introduced.

Shelley Rains read and presented the petition on behalf of the Holman community.

Probate Judge Edward Aragon spoke in support of maintaining the Holman Post Office.

County commissioner Paula Garcia spoke on the economic development impact and county commissioner John Olivas spoke about the effect on elderly and special needs patrons.

State representative Thomas Garcia made an eloquent objection to the conditions under which the meeting was being held and pointing out that if they treated people so badly at a school meeting then the repercussions would be severe. He requested another meeting at a more suitable venue and was totally ignored. After that Shelley Rains directly asked "Will there be another meeting?" and also was ignored. The spokeswoman assured us that all our questions would be answered, but that one certainly was not answered.

The post office manager, Alberta Ellis, made it abundantly clear that they were there to answer questions about what the post office would or could do and not to receive input from the affected clientele. When it was pointed out that she was neither recording nor taking notes, she assured us that she had a good memory and could remember "all the questions". A major portion of her discussion concerned the financial problems of the postal service.

Barbara Wood stated that, reading the questionaires received in Albuquerque indicated that half the patrons didn't care one way or the other. Since 182 people signed the petition and over a hundred showed up to protest, we conclude that some of the loaded questions are being interpreted from a different viewpoint than ours. (The question asked whether delivery would be better, the same, worse or don't know under the proposed system - an answer of "the same" is taken to mean that the respondent does not care if the office is open or not. The questionnaire does not ask the question "Do you care if the Post Office is open or not?" but I think 182 signatures on the petition, and some 100 people in attendance at the meeting gives the lie to these twisted assumptions by the Post Office.)

At 6:30 precisely Ms. Ellis told the attendees that she was done, the meeting was over and that was that!

Summary:

• The post office will make (already has made) the final decision about closing without considering public opinion or needs.
• The post office will consider local opinion only for locating the NDCBU's.
• The post office does not apparently feel that compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, nor New Mexico rules govening public meetings need to be complied with.
• Bathrooms, heating, seating and PR systems are apparently not required for meetings in communities under threat

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