Edhat Staff
By edhat staff
The drive-through post office boxes that were removed last week on Patterson Ave have now been replaced following public outcry and pressure from legislators.
Congressman Salud Carbajal held a press conference joined by Goleta City officials outside the Post Office at 130 S. Patterson Ave. on Tuesday afternoon. The City of Goleta and Carbajal’s office reportedly received thousands of complaints from residents over the removal of the boxes.
Unfortunately, neither office had an answer for residents as they were not notified of the box removal and have yet to receive a definitive answer as to why the boxes were removed without notice. Rep. Carbajal stated it’s of “great concern” that the public was not notified of the change.
Local residents reported receiving numerous reasons from post office employees as to why the boxes were removed as protesters demanded an official answer.
On Monday evening, two smaller post office boxes were added in the drive-through section of the post office. However, these smaller boxes are unable to accept larger items and cannot be accessed by vehicle as the previous box was, and forces motorists to get out of their car. Residents point out this poses a problem for the elderly and disabled.
New drive-through post boxes on Patterson Ave from a sedan point of view (Photo: edhat reader)
Initial feedback from local post office officials have suggested the mailbox on Patterson Ave was removed “due to an ongoing problem with thieves phishing for mail.” Although Rep. Carbajal stated there are still many unanswered questions and his office continues to inquire about the motivations behind the removal and work to ensure the USPS has the resources and support necessary to continue providing critical services going forward.
The House of Representatives passed the Heroes Act in May, which allocates $25 billion in emergency appropriations to the Postal Service to address the revenue shortfalls associated with COVID-19 and to support postal workers who have served on the front lines of the pandemic. On August 12th, Congressman Carbajal joined over 190 of his colleagues in a letter to the Postmaster General calling for a reversal of the policies which have exacerbated the crisis at the USPS.
“It is undeniable that the United States Postal Service provides a crucial service to our community and our nation. It is also true that President Trump and his administration have attacked the Postal Service at every run,” said Rep. Carbajal.
On Tuesday morning, just several hours before the press conference, Trump-appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy back-peddled on previous statements saying all changes being made to the Postal Service would be suspended until after the November 3 election.
DeJoy said retail hours at post offices will not change, mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain in place and no mail processing facilities will be closed. He made this announcement following a report that at least 20 Democratic attorneys general across the country are launching legal efforts to push back on the recent changes that disrupted mail delivery and triggered accusations that Trump and his appointees are trying to undermine mail-in voting, reports CNN.
Congressman Carbajal stated he will return to Washington, DC on Saturday to vote on the Delivering for America Act, which would prohibit the Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or levels of service it had in place on January 1, 2020.
Rep. Carbajal ended the press conference with a message to Trump, “Don’t mess with the United States Postal Service.”
Individuals with information about other mailboxes in the community which have been removed, or who have experienced delays with their mail service, are encouraged to contact Carbajal’s office at (805) 730-1710.
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August 15, 2020:
August 17, 2020: Residents Protest Removal of Post Office Boxes
Man, if only people cared as much about getting kids back in school as they do about a piece of freaking metal the kids wouldn’t be sitting on zoom bored out of their minds.
420722 – how do you figure?
I think most people do want kids back in school but it’s not safe until the vast majority of our residents physically distance themselves and wear effective masks to prevent spread. Too many people I know don’t do both and have let their guard down, thinking friends and family are exceptions to the rule. Even in my home, with three people, we try to not get too close, eat outside, etc. Furthermore, this is not a time to politicize issues, it’s a time to solve problems and we know exactly how to solve this problems as other countries have (Italy, Germany, etc). Removing the drive-through mailboxes is an issue for the community because mail delivery is, for some, an essential life service for medications, checks, billing, etc. Many businesses rely on timely deliveries, which makes the politicization of the tactics used to reduce the USPS operations even more laughable as it’s hurting businesses and the most vulnerable. Finally, kids aren’t bored out of their minds on Zoom. The vast majority of my fellow educators are working hard to provide real-life applications and connections to students’ lives and teaching skills that transcend subject matter such as reasoning (critical thinking), collaboration, and giving opportunities for students to be creative. My students were highly engaged today, thanked me for my time, and worked hard on their assignments, while collaborating with each other.
Several news outlets (KEYT, Independent, Noozhawk, Edhat) and Congressmember Carbajal’s office report reasons given for the removal and replacement was because of targeted vandalism/theft of the boxes. The boxes were replaced with modified boxes that, according to this Edhat article, appear to have been redesigned in such a way that limits access. Sounds like these boxes have been purposefully designed to prevent thieves from driving up and dropping phishing devices into them to steal mail. The same exact sort of thing has been reported in other cities around the country, with similar excuse that modified boxes are required due to increase in vandalism and theft. It seems that this issue is DOA. Remember, you can still mail your ballots from the comfort of your home, as the postal carriers have always collected outgoing envelops from residences.
I send my thanks out to the protestors. I appreciate it greatly when people take the time and make the effort to get out, hold signs and educate others. It’s terrific the boxes are back. They are needed.
That’s funny @2:35, every student on my child’s zoom today had something negative to say when asked about their experience with distance learning and it’s only day one. The teacher seemed shocked.
Sac-clearly all you have to do is stand outside cry and you get what want. If it’s that’s easy we should have done that for the kids in my opinion, that’s all I’m saying. People have been working in grocery stores (germ central) for 8 months now and we have not had one outbreak. The teachers will be just fine.
Checks were stolen on a couple occasions recently, at the Nipomo Post Office. And in San Luis Obispo as well a while back. My business neighbor had checks stolen from the PO mailbox and had to close his bank account. These people take the checks and use the banking information to make up counterfeit checks.
No, not exactly. And absolutely not DOA. I have been at the protests. There are many unanswered questions. Take your ballot to the official ballot boxes or voting poll during one of the voting days. The Postmaster General needs to reverse all changes.
People can do more than one thing. Something devious is going on with the postmaster general. This deserves serious attention. If you don’t agree, you are not paying attention
It’s an unhinged 10-15 percent on both the right and left that are the problem in this country. Look at this group protesting. The answer was obvious, apparent and in the best interest of all. A vocal uniformed conspiracy driven contingent couldn’t be placated with reason or logic. It’s sad that it plays out on a daily basis on both the far right and the far left…it’s not indicative of America at large but it starts to look like it as both sides just cant be reasoned with. We’re seemingly led ever downward by the vocal fringe on either side…with no bottom in sight…
People of a certain voting party triggered by mailboxes… You can’t make this stuff up!
I had my Homeowners Insurance check stolen from the USPS Drop Box in front of my work on Camino del Remedio. Didn’t find out until my cancellation notice arrived. Never drop there anymore , too secluded .
420722 – What about all the schools back east, check Georgia, that had outbreaks soon after allowing kids to come in person to school? What about the summer camps that had outbreaks this summer? Plenty people were/are upset about the schools being remote, myself included, but because we understand the health risk, we can accept it. Removing mailboxes in addition to the other tactics being done to slow our mail before an election that will rely largely on mail-in ballots is something totally different. You can’t really compare the two.
You could, and you’d be wrong. No one is weaponizing federal employees; rather, many are rightly concerned that the interruptions in service are at a suspicious time and are to the detriment of the most vulnerable in our society. You may not agree that government should protect the most vulnerable in our society rather than blame them, but that is what the left usually wants. Did you see that the new PG just reversed his decisions? I think that may answer your eye roll and give you pause. Public discourse is the basis of democracy. Rather than tell others to do something else with their free time, seek to understand first. People who speak before they seek to others reveal their complete lack of empathy for those who have been systemically disadvantaged.
The attempt to equate two things when one is rare and aberrant and the other is normal and usual is a fraudulent trick. The fact that mail theft occurs occasionally is not anywhere equivalent to the removal of the mail boxes that critically and reliably serve us all. If this were the case we would not fly after an airline crash, we would not put our money in banks after a failure, we would not attend church after a minister engaged in unmoral conduct. Please keep a balance folks.
POTIF: Often? Wow, didn’t know it was that frequent these days. In the past, when I lived in a complex, we had a incoming/outgoing mail slots that were locked and could only be opened by the USPS. I felt comfortable putting outgoing in those. These days, I rarely mail anything of value since most things I pay online. I still send a lot of business the way of the USPS with all the cards I like to send people for birthdays, holidays, etc., but for important documents (business, etc.) my wife likes them certified so we ultimately have to go into a branch.
And you can probably make the case that pulling mailboxes from a shopping center will save some time and therefore money. You can’t make that case for boxes located 30 ft from the front door of a major post office.
Byzan, you left out some words in your rant. Should be “The rest of us conservatives…..”. Big employee unions are the only groups maintaining the critical middle class in this country while the 1% has been trying to get rid of it. Sorry that you think people making a decent wage and being able to support their families is something that is negative.
Minibeast – If the reports we’ve read our accurate as to the reason the boxes were removed, It doesn’t appear protesters had anything to do with having the boxes put back in place. No more than Trump having anything to do with having them removed.
There was no complaining because we had confidence that the government was working in our interests. Not so under Trump.
Pitmix: The middle class does not feed off OPM; the real middle class creates money. You instead are speaking of the government employee dependency class, which is not the traditional working middle class. In fact today the government dependency workers have moved in the upper class, with their average $150K a year plus average compensation packages. Transparent California finally revealed the real status of the government, tax payer-funded employee class. Nice try, but we know the difference between government employment (takers) and private employment (makers). The government class of employees is 100% dependent on the makers, so they best stop declaring war on them and say thank you instead. There is a tax payer revolt on the horizon and it will only get worse when the Millennials wake up to what public employee pension past due bills were rung up in their names. The government employee class are totally dependent on the US economic engine continuing to run well, in order to keep their jobs and their pensions intact. This is so basic it hard to believe this still has to be explained to you. But your post demonstrates your willful ignorance on this topic. No reason to let you pass on your nonsense to others unquestioned.
An anonymous post full of attacks and misinformation. How does that help the discussion? Probably isn’t your goal anyway.
I suspect you have given “serious attention” regarding the Postmaster General’s “devious” activity(ies), care to share?
Yeah, because wishing the virus would go away will make it so. Conservative magical thinking. I think the schools in Georgia have proved you wrong.
Took them a while to come up with that explanation. And it took them a while to put in the modified boxes. They had to know how this would look. If they are not corrupt, they are incompetent. Either way, maybe they need new jobs?
yeah…the “blue mailboxes matter” sign did the trick. At least I got a laugh out of it…
you are totally 100% correct. That’s why this is so pathetic to watch and realize that these that are complaining about the removal and blaming President Trump for it, are fellow American’s like us. and salud acting like he won the fight fits their side perfectly. And then they say the “being fixed” is made up. Crack pots to say the least.
Well, it’s over. And now we know the reason the boxes were ‘removed’. Hope everyone who got lost in this desperate issue and ran off hooting & howling at the moon, learned something. I certainly did! I’m gonna cancel my Netflix. I can get all the entertainment I need right here for FREE!!!
Thank you Salud! I thought these mail boxes would be out for weeks, if not months. No matter what you think of Rep. Carbajal, you cannot deny that once he got after it, “they” put ’em back in faster than fast. So, again, thank you Salud for all that you do and looking after all of us and NOT just the special interest groups.
I know! And getting so riled up that they would appoint a Postmaster General to throw a monkey wrench into the whole system, which affects every single person in America, just because they think “Mail in votes will cause massive fraud, the likes nobody has ever seen!” Apparently, the local order to remove the boxes didn’t recognize that we use “Absentee Ballots” in CA, and according to the human Trigger in Chief, they are “just fine”. It boggles the mind!
Can anyone translate what this comment is trying to say?
Have the replacement boxes been modified? Is that verified? Are they the same boxes as before, retrofitted to prevent “phishing”, new boxes already retrofitted, or the same boxes not retrofitted, or new boxes not retrofitted? I’m just curious. An excuse was given, so I just want to know if that was really why they disappeared without any public comment or notice. That’s not normal.
Did the USPS replace that box, too? Sounds like it is vulnerable and needs attention. Or is it just “too secluded”?
Right, since a school and a grocery store are exactly the same thing.
Are you saying that a grocery store is equivalent to a school?
My check ended up at a check cashing minimart in of all places Indio Ca.
When will our congressman address real issues That face this country?
The postal service is critial infrastructure I need it so I can mail my subscription renewal check to TV Guide.
Thank you Educator. These are tough times and it is heartening to hear your positiveness and respect for students ring through.
so it took yhe po two days to put the new anti theft boxes up . it probably cost the taxpayers $200,000 for our incompetent carreer politician to fly out here from washington to “investigate”
Thank you, Salud!
As we all know, Trump lost by about 3 MILLION votes in the 2016 election. His machine clearly is attempting to limit the number of voters in the 2020 election. Wouldn’t be surprised if his people hire “vandals” to give the postal service an excuse to reduce the number of accessible mailboxes.
Salud only looks after special interest groups – the big employee unions only. The rest of us he throws under the bus while he votes with Pelosi 100% of the time.
“…cannot be accessed by vehicle as the previous box was, and forces motorists to get out of their car.” That’s the problem. The replacements simply are not adequate. Surely SOMEONE can come up with a nice design that you CAN drop mail into in a drive-by and yet cannot be “phished” by a perp with a sticky trap on a string.
Care to provide any actual info to support your misinfo? In your mind it really makes sense that it cost Mr. Carbajal $200,000 to come back to SB for this? He was on a break anyway, even a 1st class ticket doesn’t cost anywhere near that. Is Salud so ethical that you have to make stuff up to attack him?
I guess your howling and hooting is okay on this issue. Feel better now?
I remember when they pulled the mail drop boxes from magnolia center. Not much complaining, and certainly nobody whining about Obama sabotaging the postal service. Hmmmm. Partisan garbage.
JAK – your “confusion” is quite easy to explain: Obama never once suggested and threatened to cut funding to the USPS months before a presidential election that will be relying largely on mail-in ballots. No comparison, but pretty sure you knew that.
SANDY1: “a crappy looking old blue one” Do you not believe in recycling? So what if it’s not new, as long as it works, given the USPS has historically always been in or close to being in the red. I don’t want them wasting money and materials to make new boxes if they have ones that work. If anything I understand the complains about these being less convenient in terms of the distance to the vehicles and size of the opening. Still, if those designs were meant to thwart crime, you’ll need to take that up with the criminals that drove those necessities.
Here we go again–going “postal”. Fact: The Post Office thought this a routine thing just like streets suddenly closed with poor information, accidents that stop the highway without streetside onramp warning so one doesn’t join the mess. Looks like we are all in great shape -pre-election: “Jumping to Conclusions!” The poor PO administrative team thought they were doing a good thing replacing boxes with new tech ones–this was a problem of theft. Were they really thinking we did not have anti-something mobs just waiting with signs. Helps Staples, Office Max –that is good.
Phishing expeditions for all kinds of theft are part of increasing crime and ways to scam people. Many are desperate now with no legitimate jobs. Under $1000 –no prosecution. This ain’t utopia now!
Pretty sure he is voting on the bills that come before him, and also sponsoring some. What else do you want him to do? But you are not really interested in positive feedback, right? Maybe someday Farid will actually win an election and make you happy.
Byzan, don’t put words in my mouth. Yes, the 1% has destroyed private unions so that the biggest unions now are public employees. But within California there are examples of private company unions where members are doing very well. Oil and gas, port workers, plumbers, electricians, air conditioning/mechanical, are just a few. My neighbor went to college, couldn’t find a job, defaulted on his loans, and it wasn’t until he got into the plumber’s union and learned to do sheet metal work that he started to have a life and could pay his loans back.