President Obama announced today his intent to nominate the following individuals:

Paul Steven Miller, Nominee for Governor, Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service

Paul Steven Miller is the Henry M. Jackson Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law who is an expert in workplace and employment law. He has spent his career moving between academia, public service, and law practice. Most recently, Professor Miller spent the first nine months of the Obama Administration as a Special Assistant to the President in The White House. Prior to joining the University of Washington faculty in 2004, Professor Miller had been one of the longest serving commissioners of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency which enforces employment discrimination laws. He has also served in The White House as Liaison to the Disability Community and as Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs during the Clinton Administration. Earlier in his career, Professor Miller was the Director of Litigation for the Western Law Center for Disability Rights and a lawyer at the Los Angeles law firm of Manatt Phelps and Phillips. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, cum laude, and the Harvard Law School.

Dennis J. Toner, Nominee for Governor, Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service

Dennis J. Toner has directed policy, public and political affairs for over 30 years for then-Senator and now-Vice President Biden. He most recently served as Finance Director for Biden for President and Citizens for Biden. He spent the 30 years prior to that working for then-Senator Biden in his Senate office. He last held the position of Deputy Chief of Staff for the Senator from 1995 to 2005. He has also previously launched his own business, Horizon Advisors, which provides guidance and advice to private clients and non-profit organizations. He received his B.A. from the University of Delaware.

The Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service will meet at Postal Service headquarters, 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, Nov. 12-13. The public is welcome to observe the Board’s open session, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m., Nov. 13, in the Ben Franklin Room on the 11th floor. The Board is expected to discuss the following items:

Friday, Nov. 13 at 8:30 a.m.

1.Call to order and approval of minutes of previous meetings.

2.Remarks of the Chairman of the Board.

3.Remarks of the Postmaster General and CEO.

4.Committee reports.

5.Consideration of fiscal year 2009 10-K, financial statements and Postal Service annual report.

6.Consideration of fiscal year 2010 Integrated Financial Plan.

7.Consideration of fiscal year 2009 comprehensive statement and annual performance plan.

8.Quarterly report on service performance.

9.Tentative agenda for the Dec. 8, 2009, teleconference meeting.

10.Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors.

11.Adjourn.

Notices in the Federal Register reveal that the US Postal Service Board of Governors have held two closed meetings via telecon since the last regularly scheduled meeting on May 6. The sessions took place on May 22 and June 2, and the agenda items were listed as

1. Strategic Issues.
2. Financial Matters.
3. Pricing.
4. Personnel Matters and Compensation Issues.
5. Governors’ Executive Session–discussion of prior agenda items and Board Governance.

The USPS Board of Governors’ next monthly meeting is set for Monday March 30. The meeting will take place over three days at the USPS Bolger Center in Potomac MD. The entire meeting will be closed to the public.

Here is the agenda posted in today’s Federal Register:

Times and Dates: 6 p.m., Monday, March 30, 2009; 10 a.m., Tuesday, March 31, 2009; and 9:45 a.m., Wednesday, April 1, 2009.

Place:Potomac, Maryland, at the Bolger Center for Leadership Development.

Status:Closed.

Matters to be Considered:

Monday, March 30 at 6 p.m. (Closed)

1. Financial Matters.

2. Strategic Issues.

3. Pricing.

4. Personnel Matters and Compensation Issues.

5. Governors’ Executive Session–Discussion of prior agenda items and Board Governance.

Tuesday, March 31 at 10 a.m. (Closed)

Continuation of Monday’s agenda.

Wednesday, April 1 at 9:45 a.m. (Closed)

Continuation of Monday’s agenda.

Contact Person for More Information:Julie S. Moore, Secretary of the Board, U.S. Postal Service, 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20260-1000. Telephone (202) 268-4800.

Julie S. Moore,

Secretary.

USPS Press release summarizing today’s meeting of the Board of Governors:

WASHINGTON, DC — As the current economic climate continues to contribute to a decrease in mail volume, and with no reversal in the trend in sight, the Postal Service reported today it expects to end the current fiscal year with a volume decline of nine billion pieces. The end-of-year financial results will be released in November.

At today’s Board of Governors meeting, Postmaster General John Potter said the magnitude of the loss in mail requires the Postal Service to take steps now to shore up its business, which it is doing by reducing work hours. “While we deal with the economic challenges, customers and service to our customers will always be number one on our agenda, it is why we exist, it is our franchise,” said Potter.

In other financial news, the Board approved a preliminary Fiscal Year 2010 appropriation request totaling $144.6 million. This annual request to Congress includes $115.6 million in reimbursement for free services the Postal Service is required to provide, including free mail for blind persons and for overseas voting. The request also includes reconciliation adjustments for previous years based upon final audited mail volumes. In addition, the request includes $29 million for the latest annual installment from the Revenue Forgone Reform Act of 1993. This act requires the Postal Service to be reimbursed for services it performed in 1991 through 1993 and for shortfalls in the reimbursement of costs the Postal Service incurred processing and delivering certain nonprofit mail from 1994 through 1998.

Savings and Service Improvements from New Program

The Board today approved funding for the next phase of a letter recognition improvement program that further automates mail operations, resulting in reduced error rates and manual sorting costs. Phase two of the Distribution Quality Improvement program goes beyond relying solely on the information that is contained on a piece of mail, which is sometimes inaccurate or incomplete. The new program combines information from commercially available name and address databases to match and resolve address conflicts. The system will generate the correct 11-digit barcode, enabling the mail piece to be sorted to the appropriate order of delivery automatically, avoiding several downstream manual handlings that are required using today’s letter recognition systems. Eight letter recognition improvement programs have been implemented since 1996, resulting in improved customer service as more mail is barcoded and processed electronically.

U.S. Postal Inspection Service Helps Reduce Identity Crimes

The Board also learned more about the role the U.S. Postal Inspection Service plays in a new system that is helping the law enforcement community crack down on identity crimes. The National Identity Crimes Law Enforcement network uses programming and other computer services provided by Postal Inspection Service to help law enforcement identify theft patterns, search for long-term trends in identity theft and provide for a central repository of identity crimes-related information. Authorities are now able to learn immediately whether a particular piece of identification has been reported stolen or used in the course of a crime.

The database was designed by local, state and federal criminal investigators participating in a work group, organized and led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The Postal Inspection Service utilizes the network to reduce identity crimes committed by mail. A recent Federal Trade Commission study found that only two percent of identity theft victims who knew how their information was compromised said it was obtained through the mail.

In other action, the Board:

* Approved Vision 2013, the Postal Service’s new 5-year strategic plan. The plan focuses primarily on customers — meeting their needs by creating new value through the mail and generating profitable revenue for the Postal Service in an increasingly challenging environment. Vision 2013 will be available on usps.com on October 1.
* Authorized the purchase and renovation of an existing 28,500-square-foot building in San Francisco to serve as the new Townsend Carrier Annex to support present and future delivery requirements.

A posting on the NAPS member forum by NAPS Secretary Treasurer Jay Killackey verifies what most readers probably assumed from yesterday’s NAPUS hotline article. The article said that NAPUS President Dale Goff would be meeting with PMG Jack Potter tomorrow. The NAPS posting confirms that the PMG will be meeting with the heads of all of the postal unions and management associations.

Speculation on possible outcomes from the meeting center on a restructuring of the organization, and other cost cutting initiatives. The USPS Board of Governors is scheduled to hold its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday and Thursday.

Date and Time: Tuesday, September 23, 2008, at 12: 30 p.m.; and Wednesday, September 24, 2008, at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Place: Washington, DC, at U.S. Postal Service Headquarters, 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW., in the Benjamin Franklin Room.

Status: September 23–12:30 p.m.–Closed; September 24–8:30 a.m.–Open; September 24–11 a.m.–Closed.

Matters to be Considered:

Tuesday, September 23 at 12:30 p.m. (Closed)

1. Financial Update.

2. Fiscal Year 2009 Integrated Financial Plan Briefing.

3. Fiscal Year 2009 Goals and Performance Assessment.

4. Product Pricing.

5. Strategic Issues.

6. Personnel Matters and Compensation Issues.

7. Governors’ Executive Session–Discussion of prior agenda items and Board Governance.

Wednesday, September 24 at 8:30 a.m. (Open)

1. Minutes of the Previous Meetings, May 6-7, and July 28-29, 2008.

2. Remarks of the Chairman of the Board.

3. Remarks of the Postmaster General and CEO.

4. Committee Reports.

5. Financial Update.

6. Preliminary Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriation Request.

7. Capital Investments.

a. Distribution Quality Improvement (DQI) Program.

b. San Francisco, California, Townsend Carrier Annex.

8. Vision 2013–Five-Year Strategic Plan.

9. Board of Governors Bylaw Amendments.

10. National Identity Crimes Law Enforcement Network.

11. Tentative Agenda for the November 12-13, 2008, meeting in Washington, DC.

Wednesday, September 24 at 11:00 a.m. (Closed)–If Needed

1. Continuation of Tuesday’s closed session agenda.

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Postal Service announced that mail volume was down 3.0 percent, or 1.7 billion pieces, for the first quarter of fiscal 2008, according to preliminary financial results presented today to the Postal Service Board of Governors.

First-Class Mail volume decreased 3.9 percent and Standard Mail decreased 2.6 percent in the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2007.

Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President H. Glen Walker attributed the declining mail volume to “disturbing trends” in the overall U.S. economy.

“Unfortunately, two key sectors of the economy — finance and housing — suffered a downturn in the first quarter, and they’re both heavy users of the mail,” said Postmaster General John Potter.

Net income for the first quarter is estimated at $672 million on revenue of $20.4 billion.

“Although revenue is higher than in the same quarter last year, due to the price increase last May, it is $500 million less than expected,” Potter said. “We’re working to offset the disappointing revenue with cost reductions and new strategies for growth.”

Final first-quarter financial results will be released in February.

First Quarter Service Scores

National on-time performance scores for the delivery of First-Class Mail hit all-time first-quarter highs in two of the three categories the Postal Service tracks. National overnight service was 96 percent on-time – a first for three quarters in a row. Two-day service was 93 percent on-time. Three-day performance was 88 percent, a two-point improvement over the same period last year.

“These are excellent service scores for the first quarter,” said Potter, ”especially given winter weather conditions and our busiest mailing season.”

First-Class Mail performance is measured independently by IBM Global Business Services. The process measures First-Class Mail from the time it is deposited into a collection box until it is delivered to a home or business.

Other Board Action

The Board today approved three facility projects: expansion of the processing and distribution centers in West Sacramento, CA, and Providence, RI, and the purchase and renovation of an existing building and site to serve as the Perris, CA, Delivery Distribution Center.

The Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service will meet in Washington, DC, at Postal Service Headquarters, 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, on Nov. 14-15, 2007. The public is welcome to observe the Board’s open session, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 15 in the Ben Franklin Room on the 11th floor. The Board is expected to discuss the following items:

Thursday, Nov. 15 at 8:30 a.m.

1. Minutes of the previous meeting, Sept. 24-26, 2007.

2. Remarks of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board (Jim Miller and Alan Kessler).

3. Remarks of the Postmaster General and CEO John Potter.

4. Committee reports.

5. Quarterly Report on Service Performance (Delores Killette, Consumer Advocate and Vice President).

6. Consideration of Fiscal Year 2007 Audited Financial Statements (Governor Katherine Tobin and Glen Walker, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President).

7. Tentative agenda for the Dec. 10-11, 2007, meeting in Washington, DC.

The free market has spoken! The Cato Institute book “Free the Mails”, which featured an essay by Bush appointed BOG Chairman James C. Miller III advocating the privatization of the US Postal Service, apparently didn’t exactly fly off the shelves when it was published in 1988. A check of the Cato Institute’s online bookstore shows that there are still copies gathering dust there nineteen years later, even though the price has been slashed to just three bucks! And if you think that’s still too much to pay, you can pick up a copy on Amazon for just sixty three cents. It appears that in the marketplace of ideas, postal privatization has been judged practically worthless…