RICHMOND, Va. -- A second request by Virginia elected leaders for the United States Postal Service to hold a town hall has been denied.
Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner (D-Virginia) along with Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-4th) sent a letter to USPS Virginia District Manager Gerald Roane requesting to facilitate a town hall no later than Friday, January 19.
“We write to advocate on behalf of our constituents, who have continued to share countless stories of mail delays and mail security concerns throughout Virginia and the Fourth Congressional District. While we appreciate your outreach with our offices, we feel our constituents would greatly benefit from direct communications from you or an appropriate United States Postal Service (USPS) representative,” the December 8 letter said.
In a joint statement to CBS 6 on Tuesday, the Virginia lawmakers said USPS denied that request.
“Senators Kaine and Warner and Congresswoman McClellan received a response from USPS, in which USPS stated it does not plan to host a town hall. The lawmakers remain extremely concerned about unacceptable mail delivery issues, and are exploring other options to ensure that USPS addresses these problems quickly and effectively. We will keep you posted on those next steps,” according to the statement.
CBS 6 has reached out to USPS for a response Tuesday afternoon.
This follows another attempt in early December by Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Collette McEachin to hold a town hall with USPS representatives.
She said no one from the federal agency would commit to attending the event.
"Unfortunately, the Postal Service was not willing to do that," said Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Collette McEachin.
McEachin said her office began organizing the event after one of her staff members became aware of delivery issues in city neighborhoods and added there has been an increase in thefts from USPS blue drop boxes and robberies of postal workers.
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