February 24, 2009 | NEWS ARTICLES
Postal Service Slights Tenderloin SRO Dwellers
By C.W. Nevius | San Francisco Chronicle | Link to article
Forget the economy and politics. The hot topic in the Tenderloin is mailboxes.
The issue is a 2006 city ordinance requiring single-room occupancy hotels to provide a locked mailbox for each of their residents. However, the U.S. Postal Service, citing financial constraints, says carriers can't take time to sort the mail for individual mailboxes, even though they do so at apartment houses and condominiums.
This makes no sense on any level. There is no group more likely to be living on the ragged edge of financial stability, and in general they live in a high-crime area. In other words, they are much more likely to be ripped off, and if they are, they're much more liable to suffer severe consequences.
Take the case of Leonard Kaczmarski, who was in a long-running dispute with the owners of his Tenderloin SRO. When he needed help to make his rent in December, his mother sent him a postal money order. The check was swiped; Kaczmarski couldn't make the rent. The hotel finally got its way and evicted him.
"If I had a locked mailbox, I'd still be living there," he said. "Instead, I lost my place, and now I'm in a shelter."
San Francisco Postal District spokesman James Wigdel said the post office is only following the national guidelines for hotels, which is to make a one-drop delivery.
"The spirit of the (city) ordinance is admirable," Wigdel said. "But we have to go with the spirit of the law."
City Attorney Dennis Herrera says he's about to show the Postal Service a little spirit of the law himself.
"There is no reason for the Postal Service to balance its budget on the backs of some of our most indigent groups," Herrera said. "We are building a case and expecting to move on this in fairly short order."
