By Cecily Barnes
Due to a shortage of mail carriers in the past few months, some Saratoga residents have been coming home to empty mailboxes, sometimes not receiving their mail until as late as 8:30 p.m. And with only the moon as their guide, late-night carriers have been mixing up the mail, complained Saratoga resident Marcia Fariss in an email letter to the Saratoga News.
"Because the mail person is working in the dark, we frequently receive other residents' mail," Fariss said. "Many of us are extremely frustrated with the poor service and non-answers which we are receiving."
Other Saratogans have voiced similar grievances.
Marlene Duffin, treasurer of Saratoga's Good Government Group, said that recently her mail, too, has been showing up late. Other members of the Good Government Group have also complained about poor mail service.
But some residents, like Pat Andreson, say they haven't noticed any lapses.
"I don't have a problem," said Andreson. "I have a lot more important things to think about than if my mail gets there on time. As long as it gets there, I think they're doing the best they can."
Fariss, who contacted the post office to find out what was going on, was told the delay was due to short staffing. Later, she was told that excess campaign literature was to blame. "Both are true," said Saratoga's acting postmaster, Kenneth James, who was not surprised by the many complaints.
"We're just really short right now," he admitted. "We're actually five carriers short."
And with fewer bodies, there is no one to handle excess volume, James said. "Sometimes a carrier has to finish his route and go back and do part of another. We're short, that's the bottom line."
While James has been actively seeking new staff, it's just not that easy, he explained. "There's the blood screen, the security check, and you have to be an honest person." He is required to select permanent carriers from a pool of eligible employees at the district office in San Jose.
"The final decision is up to him, but he has to apply some pretty rigid standards," said Bil Paul, spokesperson for the San Jose District of the Postal Service.
James joined the Saratoga branch about four months ago as interim postmaster, and he is still awaiting a permanent postmaster.
"Regarding the selection of a new postmaster, they've begun the process," Paul said."They're looking at early next year to have a permanent postmaster."
When James joined the Saratoga Post Office, the staff was only one man down. But since then, other vacancies have occurred.
"Maybe they were offered better jobs," James suggested, "but they just quit on me. And I have several on maternity leave."
To make matters worse, October dumped hordes of campaign literature on the dwindled postal staff.
"During the political season, the volume was just out of this world. That really made it difficult when the volume is up and your people are down," James said.
But despite difficulties, prospects are looking up. Two new employees have been hired and are in training. In the meantime, James has had the flexible employees (those without regular routes) picking up the slack.
"We're doing the best we can," he said. "We've hired new people, and there is light at the end of the tunnel. We apologize for any inconvenience."
James says the new employees will be trained in time to help out with the holiday rush.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, December 18, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved