David Steiner has been selected at the 76th Postmaster General of the United States.
Steiner was appointed to the post last week by the United States Postal Service (USPS) Board of Governors.
Steiner has served on the board of FedEx and is a former CEO of Waste Management. He is set to take over sometime in July.
Steiner succeeds former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. DeJoy, an appointee of President Donald Trump, resigned earlier this year amid a deluge of service and delivery complaints.
“(W)e look forward to working with (Mr.) Steiner to help change course and restore the confidence of publishers in the USPS,” said Martha Diaz Aszkenazy, publisher, The San Fernando (California) Valley Sun, chair of the National Newspaper Association (NNA). “The selection of Steiner clearly heeds the administration’s call for a change in direction that is desperately needed.”
DeJoy’s tenure at the Postal Service was marked by poor service and repeated price increases.
“The last five years have been a disastrous period for NNA members. The pattern of service failures and twice-a-year punitive rate increases has driven publishers out of the mail. It has been no more beneficial for the USPS which has experienced skyrocketing costs and financial losses. USPS cannot survive continued pursuit of higher rates and poorer service.”
Residents have complained about delays in prescription and benefit deliveries, payment of bills, absentee ballot deliveries and receiving their newspapers, including The Blackshear Times.
The Times has lodged complaints with Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and First District U.S. Congressman Buddy Carter (R-Pooler, St. Simons Island).
Times subscribers routinely report not receiving their newspapers for over three weeks — or when they do receive them, the copies arrive several days late.
The Times coverage area is served mainly by the Jacksonville, FL processing center.
Under current sorting and processing, The Times editions are mailed from the Blackshear post office on Tuesday night. Pierce County subscribers generally receive their copies the next day. Beyond the local area, it is impossible to predict when they will arrive. Waycross is a mere 10 miles away from Blackshear, but the editions must be mailed to Jacksonville some 80 miles away for sorting and then mailed back 80 miles for delivery.
One Times subscriber from Arizona reported not receiving their newspapers for up to eight weeks at a time and then receiving all eight the same day.
