Congress members 'disappointed' by USPS response to delays, say office communicates with 'good news'

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Two Houston-area members of the U.S. Congress are disappointed by the response they received from the United States Postal Service regarding their push for accountability and transparency.

Congressman Al Green and Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia wrote a letter to high-ranking members of USPS after hearing from dozens of people who said their packages or letters were stuck in either the processing facility in Missouri City or north Houston or the mail was missing altogether. Houstonians noted missing or delayed medication, money, wedding dresses, and more.

In the letter sent on Feb. 22, they asked if USPS planned to address the public in a townhall, if they would make customer service representatives available at the processing centers for members of the public to consult, and if they would allow media to take tours of the centers with recording equipment.

SEE ALSO: Plan to help enhance USPS efficiency had setbacks, sparking delays, officials say

"No. They're really not going to do a press conference," Garcia said about the response. "No, they're really not going to do a full press media tour. They will concede that if the media calls them, they will arrange something. Then they pretty much tell you, especially Mr. Green, that they will have no expedited customer service. They cannot have a special site to do that."

Garcia said she was disappointed by the response, which was dated March 5 but arrived last week.

"It was probably delivered by the U.S. Post Office," Garcia said.

In that letter from Peter Pastre, the vice president of government relations and public policy, he reiterated that Houston is one of the first cities to undergo the modernization process within their facilities. They said the city was chosen because of "legacy challenges." He said they have had issues implementing the new processes because of employee attendance issues that had not been immediately addressed and equipment transition failures.

USPS declined to hold a town hall for members of the public to voice their concerns and declined to have a customer service representative at their processing facilities to locate packages that are stuck at the facility. In the letter, Pastre said that is "logistically impossible."

He also said in the letter they have been hesitant to address the media on the issues because they wanted to "fully identify and then address the root cause of the challenges first."

SEE ALSO: US postal service tells lawmakers mail should no longer be delayed in Missouri City

"It appears they only want to communicate when they have good news," Green said. "That's what was said to us. 'We will make a press statement or come before the press when we have good news.' That works well for USPS, I'm sure, but not for the public who uses the service."

Green said it appears that the processing problems have declined because his office has heard from fewer people over the last several weeks.

ABC13 asked on social media if Houstonians were still having problems with packages being stuck in the processing facilities. Hundreds of people responded, saying they were.

Green has said that people can continue to reach out to him for help, in addition to contacting USPS. His office can be reached at 713-383-9234.

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