Postmaster won’t address Fairway council on cluster mailboxes issue

Despite continued requests from neighborhood residents, Postmaster Russell Jacobson has informed the city of Fairway that he will not attend Monday’s City Council meeting to discuss the Postal Service’s placement of four cluster mailboxes in the Reinhardt Estates subdivision without any public input.

City Administrator Kate Gunja confirmed Thursday that Jacobson said he would not come to the meeting. Nevertheless, the cluster mailbox issue will be on the City Council’s agenda.

Former Fairway mayor and Reinhardt Estates homeowner John St. Clair, who has been organizing protest against the manner in which the placement of the cluster boxes was carried out, said Jacobson’s decision not to make himself available to the public for discussion of the issue is problematic.

“Our form of government is based on free speech and our ability to meet with our elected and appointed officials to find the best solutions to issues in our community,” he said in a statement sent to PVPost.com. “It is both sad and frustrating that a public official like Postmaster Jacobson believes that he can operate outside the norm. The Mayor, City Council, residents, and even the homeowners with the alleged problem dogs all have potential solutions that they would like to discuss with Postmaster Jacobson. Unfortunately, he and his colleagues don’t want to listen. As homeowners and taxpayers, we will continue to work with our Congressional Delegation and City officials to see if we can find a workable solution to this issue.”

Congressman Kevin Yoder’s press secretary said earlier this week that Yoder’s office had attempted to contact the Postal Service in regards to the issue, but had not received a response.

“[We] are hopeful that the Postal Service will work with the residents to develop a workable solution,” said Matthew Manda, Yoder’s press secretary.

At least two Freedom of Information Act requests have been filed with the Postal service in an effort to reveal the process by which the Postal Service made the decision to install the boxes.