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Six members of the 1st Ward post office Customer Advisory Council (CAC) and one staff member from Alderman Manny Flores office met with four managers from the U.S. Postal Service in the seventh meeting of the CAC at the 1st Ward Service Office on Western Avenue in Chicago. The CAC members were from three zip codes (60618, 60622 & 60647). The post office managers were the Station Managers for Wicker Park Station (60622) and for Daniel Doffyn Station (60618), the District Customer Care representative assigned to 60647 and the interim Station Manager for Roberto Clemente Station (60647).
60647 is still without a regular Station Manager. Ms. Valerie Cranford is now serving as interim manager until further notice. She replaces Mr. Keith Pugh who has returned to his duties as Area Manager. Mr. Pugh temporarily replaced Me. Ed Kennedy who had been brought into Chicago frrom out of state for 3 months in early September. Roberto Clemente Station is currently operating with 29 regular carriers missing from its roster due to seniority "bidding out" to other locations. Ms. Cranford noted that this has led to many newly recruited and newly transferred carriers having to begin their duties with less training and orientation than they should receive. Roberto Clemente Station (60647) is participating in a USPS "customer meet and greet" event. The interim Station Manager and the Customer Care rep will be available in the station lobby to introduce themselves to customers from 11AM to 1PM on December 19 2007. Complimentary coffee and donuts will be available. Customers may pick up free DVDs with tips on avoiding mail theft and identity theft. Postal Inspectors will also meet with employees to discuss these same topics. Both 60618 and 60622 held similar events on November 14. A Customer Care representative has been assigned to Roberto Clemente Station (60647). Ms. Esther Clas, a 24-year USPS veteran, reports to the Chicago District Office rather than to the local Station Manager. This is intended to provide more independence for that position to assist customers with a complaint that might involve personnel at that Station. Ms. Clas can be reached at the main number 773-489-2855 and will soon have a dedicated number for customers to use. Daniel Doffyn Station (60618) construction is now one-third complete. The project will be temporarily suspended during the December holiday season to avoid customer lobby disruption and will resume on January 3 2008. Two new lobby clerk positions have been added. The entire project should result in a more customer-friendly lobby and some new equipment. Portions of the lobby will be temporarily unavailable when construction restarts, but Station Manager Gregory Willis reports satisfaction with the contractor's ability to prevent dust from reaching customers and has not received any complaints about the work that has been done. Wicker Park Station (60622) once again has a permanent Station Manager. Mr. Carlos Johnson, who was brought into Chicago in December 2006 as a trouble-shooter in response to numerous customer complaints, was temporarily assigned to Chicago's Lincoln Park post office in June 2007. He has now returned to his Wicker Park Station position as of December 2007. Ms. Mary J. Ware, interim Station Manager from July through November 2007, will be Customer Service Supervisor at 60622. Mr. Johnson's first priorities are late deliveries and accuracy. While some limited building renovation was accomplished over the summer of 2007, a completely new facility is still a priority for Wicker Park Station. Parking for the Station's delivery fleet is currently in a month-to-month rental lot on the north side of the 1600 block of West Division Street. The 60622 multi-unit building box re-label project continues at USPS expense. A customer suggestion was introduced to the managers to alleviate traffic congestion around the drop-off mailboxes along Division Street in front of the Wicker Park Station entrance (60622). While the specific proposal was not practical because it would create other problems at the Post Office's loading dock, an alternate idea came out of the initial customer proposal and that will be explored by Station Manager Johnson along with members of the Alderman's office. The Alderman's office is still attempting to coordinate with the local USPS managers on a practical way to intervene in the building permit process to force developers to comply with postal regulations on multi-unit customer mailbox design, location and access before new buildings are complete. The CAC noted that service complaints received through this web site and via eMail [AdvisoryCouncil@msn.com] have gone down at 60647 over the past two months and have almost disappeared regarding 60618 but are recently on the rise for 60622. Complaints were presented to the USPS managers involving: > lobby littering by carriers at 2108-2118 W. North Avenue (60647). This complaint was thought to have been resolved in mid-November but has been brought up again by the residents of the 38-unit set of condo buildings who now feel that there may be carrier retaliation resulting from previous complaints; > missing mail and delivery issues at 1212 N. Hoyne Avenue and at 418 Noble Street (60622): > a carrier dispute at 1102 N. Oakley Boulevard (60622); > employee conduct and customer relations issues at Wicker Park Station (60622). Newly returned Station Manager Carlos Johnson and interim Station manager Mary Ware have opened investigations in all but the newest complaint and, in some cases, have already discussed the issues with the employees and the customers involved. The next CAC meeting is scheduled for 5:30PM, Wednesday January 23, 2008 at Alderman Flores 1st Ward Service Office, 2058 N. Western Avenue (60647). |
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