{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases/golden-statement-on-usps-signing-new-lease-for-west-paris-post-office", "Golden statement on USPS signing new lease for West Paris post office", "2024-08-06", "2024", "2024-08", "Democrat", "House", "ME", "Jared F. Golden", "G000592", "golden.house.gov", "golden", "https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) announced today that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has signed a lease to reopen the West Paris post office at the site of the former Ledgeview Living Center on 141 Bethel Road.\n\n\u201cThis is great news for the people of West Paris,\u201d Golden said. \u201cWith this lease signed, residents and small businesses should feel some certainty that now it\u2019s a question of when \u2014 not if \u2014 their local branch will reopen. After so long, the USPS should pull out all the stops to move as quickly as it can to resume branch services in West Paris.\u201d\n\nThe USPS closed the former post office three years ago, during which time there were long periods of uncertainty about whether a new post office would open. Golden, joined by postal workers and customers, repeatedly urged USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to assure a new site would be secured and provide clear, transparent updates about the process.\n\nMost recently, Golden sent a letter on May 30 demanding answers for why the facility remained closed after the agency estimated it would reopen last month, and requested an update for when residents should expect their post office to reopen. USPS released its original timeline after inquiries from Golden regarding the facility\u2019s future in September 2023 and October 2022.\n\n\u201cWe would like to thank Rep. Jared Golden and his staff for their persistence with getting our United States Post Office back in West Paris,\u201d Joy Downing, West Paris town manager said.\u201cThis is great news, and we are very thankful for their help and collaboration in this effort.\u201d\n\nIn 2021, USPS said it was closing the West Paris facility while the agency negotiated a new lease for the property. However, it had yet to provide a substantive update since July 21, 2023, when USPS officials said they expected the facility to be \u201cfully operational\u201d by May 2024. May 28 marked the third anniversary of its closure.\n\nUSPS has yet to announce an official reopening date for the new 141 Bethel Road site.\n\nGolden has been a champion of holding the Postal Service accountable to Mainers throughout his time in Congress. Following his outreach to Postmaster General DeJoy last year, USPS reopened its Etna facility, which had also been closed since May 2021. Last month, USPS announced that it was postponing plans to consolidate the Eastern Maine Processing & Distribution Facility in Hampden after bipartisan efforts led by Golden and other members of Congress. His bipartisan Timely Mail Delivery and Postal Services Protection Act \u2014 which he introduced in April \u2014 would permanently block the process USPS uses to consolidate mail processing facilities across the country.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:36:13Z"]], "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://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases/golden-statement-on-usps-signing-new-lease-for-west-paris-post-office"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7021639030426741, "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"}