Post office still understaffed
On the afternoon of July 5, local resident Ida Simmons stopped by the Barracks Road post office to pick up her rental checks, like she does every month. But after checking her P.O. box, she realized nobody had put mail in it—and the service desk was completely unstaffed.
“After the Fourth of July weekend, you would expect there would be mail in the box,” explains Simmons, who has had a P.O. box at Barracks Road for two decades. “As I’m befuddled and looking around, another woman comes in and says, ‘Oh, I was here earlier this morning, and there was no one here.’”
Customers also could not use the self-serve kiosk that afternoon. “The box that receives your mail … was broken—it was taped shut. It was ridiculous,” says Simmons.
When Simmons returned to the office the following day to collect her checks, she asked an employee why the mail had not been posted the previous day, and was told that no one had been assigned to work there that day, she says.
“I live 45 minutes away,” says Simmons, “so this was an extra trip for me to make in town.”
For years, mail delays have plagued the Charlottesville area due to short staffing and poor management at the local post office. Senator Mark Warner has visited Charlottesville several times over the past year to address the delays. During his latest visit in April, he called for pay raises for postal workers in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, and told residents to expect mail improvements by July.
In a statement sent to C-VILLE last week, USPS spokesman Philip Bogenberger said the Charlottesville post office has “stepped up” its recruitment efforts, and hired 16 new employees so far this year. And after nearly four years without a full-time postmaster, the office hired Vicki Stephens—who recently served as the postmaster of Broomfield, Colorado—as its new postmaster in May.
However, Bogenberger added, the Charlottesville post office is still short about 30 employees, including city carrier assistants, rural carrier associates, and assistant rural carriers. While rural carriers start at $19.06 an hour, city carriers start at $18.92 an hour. When asked, Bogenberger would not say if the pay raises Warner requested have happened.
City will not host Unite the Right anniversary event
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the white supremacist Unite the Right rally. While Charlottesville hosted Unity Days in 2019 as a memorial for the deadly rally, City Council has confirmed that the city will not hold an anniversary event this year.
“[With] no staff, no time, no money, no security, and with COVID running rampant, it did not seem like a wise idea to try to plan Unity Days,” said Mayor Lloyd Snook during last week’s City Council meeting.
Charlene Green, Charlottesville’s Office of Human Rights manager, and communications director Brian Wheeler had worked together to plan Unity Days in 2019, but both have since left their positions, explained Snook.
During last week’s meeting, some community members criticized the city for not doing anything to commemorate the infamous rally, during which dozens of people were injured and three were killed, including 32-year-old local resident Heather Heyer.
“It’s a little disappointing that Unity Days is something the city will not continue to support,” said activist Joy Johnson, board chair of the Public Housing Association of Residents. “But I’m not surprised.”
In brief
Stay cool
As heat waves and high temperatures continue to hit central Virginia, the City of Charlottesville has opened public cooling centers at Key Recreation Center, Tonsler Recreation Center, and Jefferson-Madison Regional Library Central Branch until further notice. Cold water is available at all three locations.
Bag it up
Stock up on your reusable tote bags—Charlottesville City Council has expressed support for a 5-cent tax per bag on disposable plastic grocery bags at grocery stores, convenience stores, and pharmacies, which would take effect on January 1. Revenue from the tax would go toward mitigating climate change, as well as providing reusable bags to people who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Albemarle County passed a similar tax in May. While climate activists have long advocated for the tax—already instituted in eight Virginia localities—food justice advocates worry it will put an undue burden on low-income families, reports Charlottesville Tomorrow. Council will hold a public hearing on the tax during its August 1 meeting.
No election
A federal court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit seeking to force Virginia to hold House of Delegates elections this fall under newly redrawn district maps, officially pushing the elections to next year. Former Charlottesville School Board member Amy Laufer, Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Chair Donna Price, and local nurse Kellen Squire are running for the Democratic nomination for the new 55th House District, which represents most of Albemarle County and parts of Nelson, Louisa, and Fluvanna counties. The majority of the district is what was once the 58th District, which has been represented by Republican Delegate Rob Bell for two decades.