Dear Editor,
Our town, unincorporated, and lying within three counties; San Benito, Monterey, and Santa Cruz. The Post Office is a large part of our identity. The Post Office was established in 1894. It may very well be one of the oldest Post Offices in California.
Our village was settled in 1870. It was called Aromitas because it was part of Rancho Las Aromitos y Agua Caliente. Ranch of the Aromas because of the sulfur springs nearby. And because of the railroad, these springs became very popular in the 1920s. In 1894 there was a population of 40 and we had a post office. Now there is a population of several thousand and the postal department is threatening to close it.
The postal department is closing small post offices across the U.S. and now they have zeroed in on ours. The present building is leased and is now on the market. The postal department refuses to buy the building, saying they never buy small post offices. Small post offices do not always pay for themselves so Title 39 was written up to protect the rights of the smaller offices.
It states that no small post office can be closed for financial reasons., but that is exactly why they are closing smaller offices. The head CEO of the postal department, which is incidentally not government owned, has a salary just slightly lower than the president of the United States and he is requesting a raise this year.
Those of us, who live in town, walk to the post office, as we have no home delivery. If the post offices closes will we be Aromas, California 95004 or will we be annexed to the next town 14 miles round trip to receive our mail and newspapers, yours included. We will have to go there to get stamps and to mail packages.
Will we lose our identity as a town and a place on the map of California? Please help us save the post office. Please print this letter and encourage your readers to sign our petition. Hundreds of people have signed, but we need more. It seems that only with a large number of people protesting do we have power over agencies such as this. We must not give up and lose our rights.
Karen Mendonca, Aromas
