Marin County village has gone 4 months without a post office
BOLINAS - A tiny coastal town in the North Bay is facing a problem it hasn't had to think about in more than 150 years. 3 months ago, the Bolinas post office shut down, leaving residents with limited options to receive and send mail.
Residents are fighting hard and navigating through a maze of bureaucracy within the U.S. postal service to get answers.
"Real mail not email. Bring back out town post office 94924," said Bolinas resident John Borg.
Longtime Bolinas resident John Borg is leading the charge, by launching an online petition, conducting a letter writing campaign to post office officials and erecting the biggest billboard in the tiny coastal town of 1500 in West Marin.
They're entering triple digits of days without a post office.
"That is to remind everybody to keep this issue front and center that this is an ongoing issue. That sign is going to remain up until we get a post office back in our town," said Borg.
Residents like Joan Lyon drive to the next town of Stinson Beach to pick up mail, and for neighbors who can't make the round trip of 12 miles.
"You have to plan way ahead. It wrecks your day," said Lyon.
"There's very limited public transportation here. A lot of our elderly people are people of lower income. They don't have cars and transportation. They can't drive to get their meds and checks or government benefits," said Borg.
Residents have held rallies saying USPS officials bungled a now expired lease with a private landowner, and have subsequently ignored requests for clearer answers about what's next. They say there's no commercial real estate available in the tiny town, so a temporary outdoor location at a nearby park would be welcomed.
The post office, a community hub that's been in Bolinas since 1863, has been ripped away.
"It was a place to meet and have conversations with people you haven't seen in a while," said Lyon.
Persistent pleas to local and federal lawmakers and continuous letter writing campaigns have kept the spotlight on the problem. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is aware of their plight, but residents feel they're being ignored going into four months without a station.
"The longer we go without a post office the harder it is to get it back," said Borg.
"This pinnacle infrastructure, the post office has been around since the creation of America," said D.B. Coleman.
"For a rural community like us a post office is a lifeline for every aspect of our life," said Borg.
It could be a long road ahead, but it doesn't look like that will stop residents, who refuse to mail it in, and keep fighting for a missing post office, that has brought many of them closer together. Residents say despite invitations and pleas, no one from the USPS has shown up for a public meeting in more than 3 months, or tried to set up a public meeting.
A USPS spokesperson issued a statement to KPIX-5 that reads in part, "The Postal Service is actively canvassing locations including businesses, churches and community organizations in town, seeking permission to place these centralized delivery boxes which would eliminate the need to travel to pick up mail."