{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://craig.house.gov/media/press-releases/representative-angie-craig-pushes-resolve-postal-issues-lakeville-residents", "Representative Angie Craig Pushes to Resolve Postal Issues for Lakeville Residents", "2022-11-05", "2022", "2022-11", "Democrat", "House", "MN", "Angie Craig", "C001119", "craig.house.gov", "craig", "https://craig.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Today, U.S. Representative Angie Craig released a letter she wrote to Tony Williams, the United States Postal Service\u2019s Minnesota and North Dakota District Manager, to express her concerns about services provided by the Lakeville Post Office. In her letter, she highlighted the critical need to improve the post office\u2019s inadequate delivery standards and poor customer service \u2013 and the impacts these inadequate conditions are having on Lakeville residents.\n\n\u201cResidents in certain neighborhoods have gone days, even weeks, without receiving their mail. This has led to medications for seniors being undelivered and bills arriving late, resulting in unfair and unnecessary fees for residents. Some routes are seemingly unserviced altogether. In some instances, package lockers have been damaged and inaccessible for postal service customers and calls to fix them have gone unanswered. I have also repeatedly heard from constituents of poor customer service within the post office itself,\u201d wrote Representative Craig.\n\n\u201cMy office has been working with your consumer affairs manager since October 12, 2022, to resolve a specific overbilling complaint after the customer themself was unable to seek a remedy from local USPS officials. We also filed a formal inquiry with your staff after numerous, continued complaints from residents and Lakeville Mayor Anderson on November 1, 2022. We are grateful for the Minnesota/North Dakota District staff\u2019s efforts,\u201d Representative Craig continued.\n\nRepresentative Craig encourages her constituents to contact her office if they are having any trouble navigating or accessing any federal agency, including their local post offices. For assistance, they should visit Representative Craig\u2019s website at https://craig.house.gov/casework.\n\nYou can find the full text of the letter below.\n\nNovember 5, 2022\n\nTony Williams, District Manager, Minnesota/North Dakota District\n\nUnited States Postal Service\n\n100 S. 1ST Street Minneapolis,\n\nMN 55401-999\n\nDear Mr. Williams:\n\nFirst of all, thank you for your service to the U.S. Postal Service, especially during this busy election. I am writing on behalf of the numerous constituents and City of Lakeville officials concerned about service levels they are experiencing from the Lakeville Post Office.\n\nLakeville has experienced rapid population growth and business expansion over the last several years, and I fear that the postal service may not be expanding at the necessary rate. From July 2020 to July 2021 alone, Lakeville experienced a population growth rate of 3.8%, the fastest in Minnesota according to the Census Bureau. Furthermore, Lakeville is expected to reach a population of 85,000 as it continues to expand.\n\nResidents in certain neighborhoods have gone days, even weeks, without receiving their mail. This has led to medications for seniors being undelivered and bills arriving late, resulting in unfair and unnecessary fees for residents. Some routes are seemingly unserviced altogether. In some instances, package lockers have been damaged and inaccessible for postal service customers and calls to fix them have gone unanswered. I have repeatedly heard from constituents of poor customer service within the post office itself. One of the most egregious errors has a postal service customer being overcharged thousands of dollars. I am thankful for your staff\u2019s help in beginning to resolve this issue which never should have happened in the first place.\n\nMy office has been working with your consumer affairs manager since October 12, 2022 to resolve a specific overbilling complaint after the customer themself was unable to seek a remedy from local USPS officials. We also filed a formal inquiry with your staff after numerous, continued complaints from residents and Lakeville Mayor Anderson on November 1, 2022. We are grateful for the Minnesota/North Dakota District staff\u2019s efforts. Given that USPS is now in peak holiday shipping season, I feel the need to escalate these issues to your attention as well and request a formal response to the following questions:\n\nCan you confirm if Lakville\u2019s postal routes are still considered \u201crural\u201d for the purposes of USPS delivery systems? If so, what is the plan to reevaluate that designation given the rapid population growth?\n\nOn average, how many postal routes go unserved each day in Lakeville and how many postal service customers does that impact?\n\nWhat, if any, staffing shortages presently exist at the Lakeville Post Office and how is USPS and the Lakeville Post Office working to address them?\n\nThe Lakeville Post Office is one of 25,300 leased postal facilities across the country. The current lease expires August 31, 2024. What is the current USPS Facilities assessment of Lakeville\u2019s operating capacity and are other options being explored for facility space?\n\nCan USPS guarantee that every Lakeville resident who requested a mail-in ballot for the 2022 General Election, regardless of political party, will receive that ballot in time to cast it and have it collected in time to be counted in the 2022 General Election?\n\nThank you for reviewing this letter and I look forward to your response on behalf of all the 2nd District residents who deserve to have their medications, bills and packages arrive safely and on time.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:24:37Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://craig.house.gov/media/press-releases/representative-angie-craig-pushes-resolve-postal-issues-lakeville-residents"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5379460528492928, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}