The United States Postal Service, in recent months, made the decision to begin sorting all of Ketchikan's mail in Juneau, whether it was incoming mail originating elsewhere or mail that originated in Ketchikan mailed to a Ketchikan address. It made this decision without any public notice or input from Ketchikan residents.

Under their new plan, all mail, even mail coming from a Ketchikan address, is deposited at the Ketchikan post office, then flown over 200 miles away to Juneau, where it is sorted and returned to Ketchikan.

On Monday, in a letter to the USPS, Senator Mark Begich urged the postal service to re-evaluate its decision to implement its burdensome sorting process for Ketchikan mail. Begich told Postmaster General Patrick Donohue that he was concerned that the plan is inefficient and did not take weather delays that are prevalent in the southeast region of Alaska.

“It is my understanding that in theory the USPS planned to have Ketchikan mail sent to Juneau in the evening, sorted, and then returned the next morning for delivery,” said Sen. Begich. “Unfortunately, it does not appear that those responsible for the decision had an adequate understanding of the weather in Southeast Alaska, which can cause flight delays and cancellations during much of the year, nor did they take into account the possibility of mechanical breakdowns of aircraft used by the USPS contractor. The result is that my office has received numerous complaints from local governments and businesses concerned about timely delivery of bills and receipt of payments for taxes, utilities, goods, and services.”

“I would urge you to review the decision to fly Ketchikan-bound mail hundreds of miles from Ketchikan to Juneau and back to Ketchikan, balancing the potential cost savings, if any, with common sense and the needs of Ketchikan residents, businesses, and local governments to have reliable and timely mail delivery, and the adverse economic impacts which the decision has already had on them,” said Sen. Begich. “I believe that the result of such a review will be a decision to retain Ketchikan-bound mail for processing in Ketchikan.”

Begich related to the Postmaster General that he understood the needs of the USPS to acheive cost savings, but also pointed as well to his previous urgings that the service be more transparent and inclusive when making decisions affecting customers and asked them to review their decision.