By Gary Pitts
Paducah, KY – The Paducah City Commission approved a resolution yesterday in support of keeping the US Postal Service Paducah Processing Facility open. Commissioner Gerald Watkins initiated the resolution. He says closing the facility would not only result in the loss of at least 44 jobs locally, but would also affect dated services like newspapers and magazines that depend on next day service. Watkins says he hopes resolutions like this will encourage action from Congress to keep the Postal Service operating effectively.
"I think Congress needs to step up, and I know they've got a federal deficit that they've got to address, but there are a whole lot of other areas to look into without trying to put the US Postal Service on a downward spiral of being less able to provide the services it was chartered to do."
Last Tuesday, USPS agreed to delay the closing or consolidation of any post office or mail processing facility until May 15, 2012. The Postal Service hopes this delay will help facilitate the enactment of comprehensive postal legislation.