WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) released a letter he sent to the San Antonio headquarters of the United States Postal Service (USPS) demanding answers and accountability after USPS suddenly ended a longstanding policy of maintaining the cluster boxes that San Antonio neighborhoods rely on for safe and secure mail delivery.
“For years, my constituents have been able to count on USPS to maintain and replace neighborhood cluster boxes. However, in recent months, USPS has newly claimed that box maintenance is a neighborhood responsibility and refused to provide longstanding repair services,” Congressman Castro wrote in his letter. “In December 2022, the Oakmont Downs HOA requested that USPS repair a box that was damaged in an act of vandalism. After multiple unanswered requests and without warning, the Cedar Elm post office told my constituents that the HOA is responsible for maintaining and replacing their cluster boxes. I am concerned that as USPS updates policies to lower operating costs, these new policies negatively impact mail delivery. I understand that USPS must update its operating procedures from time to time, but I am worried that these shifts in policy implementation are placing an undue burden on my constituents.”
The letter was sent in response to eight separate constituent complaints from San Antonio homeowner associations that represent thousands of residents. USPS is currently withholding neighborhood mail delivery to affected residents and has warned that mail arriving after November 1, 2023, will be marked as undeliverable and returned to sender. If implemented, these mail rejections could affect everything from paycheck delivery to medication-by-mail for seniors and homebound residents.