Have a problem with mail delivery? The city of Park Ridge wants to hear about it — and share it with the U.S. Postmaster and a local congresswoman.
That is the plan announced by city leaders following the launch last month of an online complaint portal for mail service issues.
According to a report shared with the City Council on Feb. 28, the portal generated 28 complaints about mail service between Feb. 11 and Feb. 25. Many of the complaints involved mail not being delivered every day as expected.
“We cannot count on getting delivery of mail on a regular basis,” wrote one resident. “Days go by with no mail and, when we do get mail, it is usually very late in the evening — way past dark.”
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“We have lost confidence in the safety of mail being sent through the postal service,” wrote another resident, noting that the drive-up mailboxes outside the Park Ridge Post Office remain closed after mail thefts reported last year. “This centuries-old service is disintegrating before our eyes, and do not see any proactive action being taken to fix things or at least overhaul the service. This is concerning!”
Several complaints referenced mail being delivered to the wrong residence or packages not being delivered at all. Mail thefts were also noted by some residents.
“None of these are a surprise,” said 7th Ward Ald. Marty Joyce during the Feb. 28 meeting of the Park Ridge City Council. “We all know what is going on.”
Park Ridge Deputy City Clerk Brigid Madden said the complaints received by the city will be shared with the U.S. Postmaster General and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky’s office.
Tim Norman, spokesman for the Chicago and Illinois district of the U.S. Postal Service, said post office management is “aware of delivery issues in Park Ridge and is taking steps to address the concerns.”
Daily delivery, he said, has resumed.
“Our workforce, like others, is not immune to the human impacts of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic,” Norman said in an email. “We will continue flexing our available resources to match the workload.”
Complaints regarding mail delivery can be registered with the city of Park Ridge by visiting www.parkridge.us and clicking the “U.S. Post Office Complaints” tab.
Norman said customers are also encouraged to contact the Park Ridge Post Office with any service issues or visit usps.force.com/emailus/s/ to send a message or question to the Postal Service.
Park Ridge City Manager Joe Gilmore said complaints that the city receives will be submitted to the U.S. Postmaster General monthly. Anyone who reports mail theft will be directed to make a report with the police department, he said.
Park Ridge Mayor Marty Maloney said the online complaint portal was established by Madden and Administrative Services Manager Leisa Niemotka based on citizen complaints that began coming into City Hall.
“A lot of frustration at the post office tends to come to this building,” Maloney said.
In addition to issues with mail delivery, the city of Park Ridge has experienced mail theft.
During 2020 and 2021, more than two dozen reports of stolen mail, largely from mailboxes outside the Park Ridge Post Office, were made to Park Ridge police and forwarded to the U.S. Postal Inspection Services. The thefts involved checks that were stolen, altered and cashed by people who were not the intended recipients.
On Sept. 15, a Dolton man was arrested after U.S. postal inspectors searched a Dolton residence and recovered pieces of mail and a container with a tracking device that had been removed from a mail collection box outside the Park Ridge Post Office earlier that day, a federal complaint filed in U.S District Court in Chicago said.
New boxes were installed outside the Park Ridge Post Office, but they were discovered pried open and empty on Nov. 6, police said. The boxes have not reopened since.
Mail thefts have been reported across the Chicago area, including nearby Niles, Morton Grove, Glenview and Lincolnwood.
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