A public meeting about the consolidation of the Mack Robinson mail handling facility drew a full house at Robinson Park in Pasadena Tuesday. The young man addressing the crowd claimed to be from Occupy LA, and raised objections to the plan. Photo courtesy of Deb Halberstadt, HalfCity Productions
by Timothy Rutt
A U.S. Postal Service official says that the Altadena post office will not close -- although it may move -- and there are no plans to close the Mack Robinson post office/mail handling facility in Pasadena. However, both facilities will shrink as the postal service moves some functions to other locations in an effort to reduce costs.
In the case of Altadena, consolidation means moving mail carriers' stations and vehicles to another facility, said Michael E. Madrigal, marketing manager for the U.S. Postal Service's Sierra Coastal District. In the case of the Mack Robinson post office and mail handling facility in Pasadena, it means moving the mail handling function 17 miles away, to a facility in Los Angeles.
Both post offices will retain retail counters and service and post office boxes, Madrigal said.
Madrigal said that 70 percent of Altadena's space is used for postal carrier functions -- sorting stations and parking for postal vehicles. If the carriers are moved to another site, the Altadena post office will only need the 30 percent of the building space that is used for counter service and post office boxes, he said. Madrigal said that the post office is looking at moving to a smaller, more economical retail space after the current lease for the property at 2271 N. Lake Ave. expires in a year or two. Madrigal said that the new building would include counter and post office box services.
So while a move is in the cards, "right now, there are no plans to close the Altadena post office," Madrigal said. "The Altadena post office will always be there, there will still be a place for mailing packages."
Jin Lou, officer in charge of the Altadena post office, said that they had received "no actual news yet" as to what was being planned for the facility.
As for closing the mail processing function at the Mack Robinson facility at Orange Grove Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue in Pasadena, Madrigal said that "people are not going to be laid off -- they will be moving to other locations."
There was a public meeting in Pasadena on Tuesday, where some speakers expressed objections to moving the mail handling function to Los Angeles. Madrigal acknowledged that there was some emotion attached to the consolidation, admitting that some postal union workers were upset with the move. "Change is very difficult," Madrigal said.
