After a year of covering problems with the post office, the Chestnut Hill Local had to file a Freedom of Information request to find out exactly how many checks had been stolen from city mailboxes.
It turns out that half of all mail check theft in the entire state of Pennsylvania occurs somewhere in Philadelphia – a city which accounts for just 12 percent of the total population.
So perhaps it’s no surprise that U.S. Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, has scheduled a field hearing on the failures of the USPS in this city.
The hearing, to be held Sept. 7 at Temple University’s 1810 Liacouras Walk, will “examine drops in the U.S. Postal Service’s mail delivery performance, recent increases in postal mail theft and crime, and whether the Postal Service is prepared to effectively receive and deliver mail-in ballots nationally during the upcoming election cycle.”
U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, who asked Connolly to bring the hearing to Philadelphia, told the Local that he is “looking for some accountability.”