Many Greenbelt residents have recently expressed a loss of confidence in the U.S. Postal Service’s ability to deliver the mail reliably, also raising concerns about privacy and fraud. Problems with the city’s mail have been a topic at recent city council meetings, too.
Problems range from delays in routine mail and packages left at the wrong address to the complete loss of valuables. The worries have grown as residents who plan to vote by mail in the upcoming midterm elections look for alternatives outside of Greenbelt.
“It’s going to take … several months, really, of me receiving my mail regularly again for me to trust the post office,” said Matt Sickle, a 42-year-old landscape architect who lives in Old Greenbelt. He added that he no longer sends mail from the city’s post office. Sickle expressed his concerns on the Greenbelters Facebook page in September. His post garnered over 50 comments from other residents relating to his struggles.
According to several residents’ accounts on Facebook, they first began experiencing issues last December, which they had hoped would be resolved quickly. They were not.
Greenbelt East resident Judith Davis, the city’s longest-serving mayor and councilmember before she retired in 2023, told the News Review she has also experienced inconsistencies with the post office, leading her to wonder if it’s understaffed.
Mayor Emmett Jordan agreed with the possibility of understaffing, saying he himself has witnessed long lines at the local post office. He has also experienced delays in receiving his own mail.
Jordan said the residents’ concerns are valid, especially with an election next month.
“Right now, we have an election coming up,” Jordan said, “… and many people have opted to vote by mail, to receive a ballot in the mail that they can use to take to a dropbox or mail back to the board of elections. So, one of my concerns is the length of time that it seems to take to get the information.”
Jordan said he has reached out to the post office in Greenbelt as well as U.S. Representative Glenn Ivey (who represents Greenbelt in Maryland’s Congressional District 4) about residents’ experiences. As mayor, Jordan does not have jurisdiction over the post office’s affairs, but the congressman does.
In an October 12 letter to Ivey, Jordan expresses concern about inadequate staffing, unreliable service, missing mail and “inconsistent customer service.” He notes that the city sent a letter outlining concerns to Postmaster William French in May yet still continues to receive concerns and complaints from residents today. In fact, Jordan told the News Review complaints have increased over the last month or two and the situation has become “quite the concern.”
Jordan said residents depend on reliable postal service for medication, bills and communication and that problems with mail delivery especially impact seniors and those residents who rely on the postal service most heavily.
Other residents said they have received mail that does not belong to them but have similar addresses to their own. Others have reported missing birthday cards, speeding tickets and medical necessities — all lost in the mail.
Julie Marlette, who works for an eye doctor in Laurel and turns 65 in December, said she recently enrolled in Medicare, but has not received the welcome packet in the mail, despite the Department of Human and Health Services (HHS) saying it was mailed on September 21.
When she followed up with HHS, officials confirmed the package had been sent to her address and said it could not be re-sent. At best, they only offered to generate another Medicare number for her.
A letter to the editor this week shares yet another similar experience of missing mail, in that case financial documents.
The Greenbelters Facebook page is filled with similar stories.
Piri Powell Jenkins told the News Review her family missed mortgage documents last spring because the company thought they changed their address, but they had not. Her husband also nearly missed a jury summons.
Just like Jenkins’ husband, Sickle said he also almost missed a jury summons and a speeding ticket. “It’s not good to miss a jury summons. You could get in trouble for that,” Sickle said.
Several calls to the Greenbelt Post Office were not returned.
Mark Lawrence, the U.S. Post Office media contact for Maryland, said the postal service was aware of some disruptions at “one route,” and the issue was being addressed.
Gabriel Ogunjobi is a University of Maryland graduate student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism writing for the Greenbelt News Review.
