WRBL TV in Columbus GA reports that the USPS Office of the Inspector General has handed its investigation of former Columbus Postmaster Jerry Schafer over to the US Attorney’s office for possible prosecution.
Schafer was suspended in October as the OIG investigated “misuse of postal government information, which is a violation of the Privacy Act”. He retired in December.
Pay for Performance
The Postal Service’s Pay-for-Performance (PFP) program continued to drive organizational achievement. (Performance results are highlighted in Chapter 6.) Unlike most government agencies that provide regular, across-the-board pay increases, PFP is the sole source of annual pay adjustments for non-bargaining unit employees.
The award-winning program has been cited by several independent entities as a model for other agencies to emulate. The foundation of the evaluation system is a balanced scorecard of objective, independently verifiable measures of service, workplace environment, productivity, and financial performance. Performance indicators are measured at national, area, district, business unit, and individual levels so that meaningful performance distinctions are made within the line-of-sight of all managers. Individual contributions are linked to organization success through these performance indicators. Core performance requirements and individual results are recorded in the Performance Evaluation System.
New service performance indicators were baselined in 2009 for Standard Mail and Presort First-Class Mail along with other mailing services products.
Pursuant to §39 U.S.C. 3686(d), the Postal Service hereby reports that during calendar year 2008 the following individuals received compensation in the amounts listed in excess of the rate for level 1 of the Executive Schedule under section 5312 of title 5:
Kathleen Ainsworth
$13,057
Robert F. Bernstock
$20,979
Anita J. Bizzotto
$37,975
Sylvester Black
$49,656
Megan J. Brennan
$28,702
Susan M. Brownell
$9,981
Ellis A. Burgoyne
$72,756
Michael J. Daley
$28,656
Thomas G. Day
$7,501
Patrick R. Donahoe
$72,936
Jo Ann Feindt
$18,856
Steven J. Forte
$19,999
William P. Galligan, Jr.
$56,936
Deborah M. Giannoni-Jackson
$28,630
Mary Anne Gibbons
$60,790
Dean J. Granholm
$2,424
Timothy C. Haney
$17,463
Todd S. Hawkins
$6,146
Lawrence K. James
$827
Stephen M. Kearney
$23,328
Linda A. Kingsley
$28,604
Susan M. LaChance
$275
Jerry D. Lane
$23,564
B. L. Malcolm
$26,986
Pritha Mehra
$59
Julie S. Moore
$7,664
Walter F. O’Tormey
$28,665
Anthony M. Pajunas
$28,721
Susan M. Plonkey
$4,337
John E. Potter
$73,771
Samuel M. Pulcrano
$2,827
Gary C. Reblin
$5,608
Tom A. Samra
$12,143
Jordan M. Small
$28,719
Douglas A. Tulino
$7,421
Gloria E. Tyson
$6,253
Anthony J. Vegliante
$71,136
Paul E. Vogel
$65,856
Harold G. Walker
$40,681
Terry J. Wilson
$49,956
George W. Wright
$28,730
From the USPS:
WASHINGTON — Prices for Priority Mail will change on Jan. 4, 2010. Customers also can look forward to several Priority Mail innovations.
In a first for the shipping industry, the Postal Service is introducing cubic volume-based pricing for large volume commercial Priority Mail shippers. Customers who ship small dense, space-efficient packages will receive a financial incentive through a new, tiered pricing option. This encourages greener, more efficient shipping and is one more way the Postal Service is eco friendly.
Other benefits for Priority Mail customers effective in January include a decrease in the domestic Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope retail price from $4.95 to $4.90. The popular Priority Mail Small Flat Rate Box will continue to be one of the best consumer values in the domestic shipping market at under $5. Its 2010 price will remain at $4.95.
Cubic volume-based pricing will not be the only first in January for customers who qualify to ship at Commercial Plus prices. A Priority Mail half-pound price, based on distance, will be added only in the Commercial Plus pricing category. And, a new Priority Mail Flat Rate padded envelope measuring 9.5 x 12.5 inches will be available exclusively for Commercial Plus shippers. This envelope is specially designed for jewelry, electronics and other delicate goods.
“We have put together a range of creative and innovative products and services for our customers,” said Robert Bernstock, president, Mailing and Shipping Services. “With these new offerings, the Postal Service is reinforcing the value of Priority Mail as the right product at the right time,” he said.
In addition to an overall price increase of 3.3 percent, on average, for Priority Mail, there will be new prices for Express Mail, Global Express Guaranteed, Express Mail International, Priority Mail International, Parcel Select and Parcel Return Service, also effective Jan. 4.
Prices for First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Parcel Post and other mailing services products will not change in 2010, with the cost of a First-Class Mail stamp remaining at 44 cents.
“The Postal Service is the best buy in the market, whether you’re watching your budget or gearing up as the economy starts to rebound,” Bernstock said, noting that other shippers have announced price increases of nearly 6 percent for 2010, excluding fuel surcharges. Most shippers add extra fees for fuel, rural delivery, Saturday delivery and other items to a customer’s final bill. The Postal Service has no comparable surcharges.
Customers who pay for their shipping services online will continue to save compared to retail prices. Online costs will be, on average, 5 percent less than retail for Express Mail and 5.7 percent less for Priority Mail. Online savings for international shipping will be 10 percent less than retail for Global Express Guaranteed, 8 percent less for Express Mail International and 5 percent less for Priority Mail International.
A complete listing of 2010 prices is available at http://pe.usps.com under the “Jan. 2010 Price Change” link.
Here are some of the stories we told you about in 2001:
January
On January 4, the price of a first class stamp increased by a penny, to 34 cents. The USPS had wanted a two cent increase, but accepted the lower price set by what was then called the Postal Rate Commission.
The postmaster of Barron WI was sentenced to two months in a halfway house and two months of home confinement after he was found to have stolen a blood sample from the mail. The blood was his own- the sample had been taken after he was stopped for drunk driving.
The Postmaster General told the USPS Board of Governors at their monthly meeting that for the first time ever, advertising mail volumes rose faster than first class in the first quarter.
PMG Henderson announced that the USPS had entered into a seven year agreement with FedEx valued at $7.2 billion under which the company would carry Express and Priority Mail on its planes, and also have the right to place FedEx collection boxes at post offices.
The OIG reported that management/employee relations at the Toms River NJ post office had deteriorated to the point that there was the potential for violence. The report described how, during an interview with inspectors, the postmaster had played with a .38-caliber shell.
Postmaster General Henderson announced that he would retire when his contract expired at the end of May.
February
A month after raising prices, and facing a two billion dollar loss for the fiscal year, the USPS Board of Governors voted to begin proceedings with the PRC to increase rates again in early 2002.
March
The Board of Governors ordered a halt to more than 800 construction projects in all 50 states, citing the agency’s precarious finances. BOG Chairman Robert Rider warned that the USPS’s ability to meet its universal service obligation would be in jeopardy without legislative changes.
Emery Worldwide went to federal court to try and stop the USPS/FedEx deal. The company stood to lose millions if its contract to carry Priority Mail was canceled. The court ruled against Emery.
Deputy Postmaster General John Nolan told the National Postal Forum in Orlando that the USPS would cut staffing by the equivalent of 75,000 employees over the next five years in an effort to stem financial losses. He also said the service would cut administrative costs by 25 percent.
April
As projections of the fiscal year’s loss approached $3 billion, the Board of Governors directed management to study the possibility of eliminating Saturday delivery as a cost cutting measure.
Air transport companies petitioned the Justice Department to open a formal anti-trust inquiry into the USPS/FedEx deal.
A former employee armed with a gun and several knives entered the Kearny NJ mail processing center and stabbed three employees before he was tracked down by policemen who shot and killed him when he refused to drop his weapons.
May
As postal finances worsened, the USPS Board of Governors took the unusual step of overruling the Postal Rate Commission’s January rate decision, increasing postage rates on most mail as of July 1, but leaving the first class one ounce price at 34 cents. It was only the second time the BOG had ignored the PRC’s recommendations. A second rate increase in six months sparked an immediate outcry from mailers- Neil Denton of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers said “I hope the Postal Service knows what it’s doing. The Board of Governors may have just launched the U.S. Postal Service into a death spiral”.
The BOG announced that USPS Chief Operating Officer John E. Potter would be the next Postmaster General.
June
Nationwide installation of FedEx collection boxes at post offices began.
Jack Potter was sworn in as the nation’s 72nd Postmaster General.
July
After a preliminary study (and fierce reactions from mailers and politicians), the USPS Board of Governors decided against pursuing the elimination of Saturday delivery.
Wearing the logo of the US Postal Service, Lance Armstrong won his third Tour de France.
August
In an accounting maneuver, the Bush Administration moved the postal service “off-budget”. The move “reduced” the federal deficit by the $1.3 billion loss the service was running at the time.
On August 27, FedEx planes began carrying Express and Priority mail.
Mail order hatcheries worried that their business might be damaged by FedEx’s refusal to carry live chicks on its planes, as Emery had done when it transported most Priority Mail. The USPS insisted it could make arrangements with commercial airlines to transport the birds.
WASHINGTON – Thomas Ali Fields, a 40-year-old District man and former U.S. Postal Service employee, has been sentenced to 144 months in prison for the distribution and possession with the intent to distribute 186 grams of crack cocaine, Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced today. Fields was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before the Honorable Paul L. Friedman. On March 12, 2009, a jury convicted the defendant of one count of the Unlawful Distribution of 50 Grams or More of Cocaine Base, and one count of the Unlawful Possession with Intent to Distribute 50 Grams or More of Cocaine Base.
The government’s evidence at trial established that on August 13, 2008, Fields sold 115 grams of crack cocaine to a cooperating witness, working under the supervision of officers of the Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”) and agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”). The transaction took place at the Shell gas station, located at 3400 Benning Road, NE, in Washington, D.C. On August 26, 2008, Fields was arrested as he was exiting the U.S. Postal River Terrace Annex on Benning Road where he worked. Recovered from a blue glove the defendant was carrying were an additional 73 grams of crack cocaine. Fields also had over $2,000 in U.S. currency on his person. Following his arrest, officers executed a search warrant at a house Fields shared with his wife. Recovered from the house was a loaded semiautomatic handgun as well as substantial drug paraphernalia.
In announcing the sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillips expressed his appreciation to officers of the Metropolitan Police Department and agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and particularly praised the work of MPD Detective Scott Brown. He also commended the excellent work of MPD Investigators Michael Iannacchione and Joseph Abdalla, Detectives Vincent Witkowski and King Watts, Officer Alvin Cardinal, and DEA Forensic Chemist Brian Makela. In addition, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillips commended Paralegal Specialist Mia Beamon who assisted in the prosecution, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys George P. Varghese and Opher Shweiki, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
It’s been quite a decade- here are some of the news items we told you about in 2000. If there are some interesting stories from 2000 that we’ve missed, tell us in the comments.
January
The nation awoke on New Years day ten years ago to find that the dreaded Y2K bug had been squashed- or more likely had never been such a big threat in the first place. To demonstrate that the federal government was running smoothly, the White House staged a New Years Day stunt during a press briefing by Y2K coordinator John A. Koskinen. A “letter carrier” (actually USPS Y2K communications manager Jon Leonard) stepped up to the podium announcing “Package for Mr. Koskinen”, and handed him an Express Mail package that had been mailed the day before from San Francisco. Kostinen, unfortunately, flubbed his lines, telling the assembled media “This is an actual FedEx package . . . from Los Angeles”.
A Chicago letter carrier, Larry J. Mack, was arrested after he was seen burning bundles of mail, some of it first class, in his back yard.
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