To Linda Murdock, the Aromas Post Office is the town’s core. So
the prospect of having it closed or minimized to a trailer site, as
many locals fear with the building up for sale, carries more than
the possibility of losing a rare convenience in town of fewer than
3,000 people.
To Linda Murdock, the Aromas Post Office is the town’s core. So the prospect of having it closed or minimized to a trailer site, as many locals fear with the building up for sale, carries more than the possibility of losing a rare convenience in town of fewer than 3,000 people.
“It’s the hub of our town,” Murdock said today. “It’s the only presence of a state or federal office.”
Residents like Murdock have been distressed since the “for sale” sign went up on the post office building just before Christmas. With an out-of-town owner eager to sell and the U.S. Postal Service talking of moving into a trailer, citizens like Murdock dread the potential of losing much of the current service and ultimately having the local post office close altogether.
The U.S. Postal Service plans to move the Aromas site’s retail and post office box services to a mobile trailer while the delivery operation would be based in Watsonville, according to a letter from the postal service to Murdock, who’s also president of the San Juan Bautista Chamber of Commerce.
Murdock and about 200 other Aromas residents upset at the proposal showed up to a meeting Sunday with U.S. Postal Service representatives who tried to calm their concerns about the building’s sale and speculation about the site closing.
Despite its relative isolation, Aromas isn’t alone when it comes to anxiety over losing the local post office. More and more post offices across the country – especially rural locations – have been closing in an effort to shave costs and increase efficiency.
For an expanded version of this story, see Friday’s edition of the Free Lance and check back in online later on Thursday.
