OPINION: DeJoy Is No Joy

OPINION: DeJoy Is No Joy

OPINION: DeJoy Is No Joy

By Anna & Wes Hessel

 

Not Swift

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”  But what about Post Master Louis DeJoy?  We know our mail is being delivered slower and later in the day.  Some people are not receiving mail delivery for days.  I’m sure you can relate to this one; I received last month’s power bill in the same mail delivery as this month’s power bill. That has never happened to me before. So why, now? The U.S. Post Office has been delivering mail  for over two hundred thirty years, they are better than this. What do we really know about this Republican Trump appointee?

Something We Should Have Never Contracted

First, Louis DeJoy was CEO, as well as founder, of New Breed Logistics.  In 2014 New Breed merged into XPO Logistics.  DeJoy became chief executive over XPO’s contract logistics unit.  A year later he left this post to take a prominent position on XPO’s board, where he continued through 2018.  New Breed was a United States Postal Service contractor, and still is as XPO.  Louis is also known to be a major Republican fundraiser and contributor.

Beginning Of The End

I need to first thank President Biden for his USPS Board of Governors nominees, who will replace the outgoing Governors John Barger and Ron Bloom.  Mr. Bloom has been DeJoy’s biggest champion.  He will not return after his term ends on December 8th.  Our president has nominated former administrator of the General Services Administration during the Obama presidency, Daniel Tangherlini as Bloom’s replacement.  As for Barger’s successor, it will be Derek Kan, former deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, and a Republican.  Both Barger and Bloom are strong DeJoy supporters, so a change is greatly needed.

Steps In The Right Direction

Mr. Tangherlini, a leader in both private and public non-profit sectors, will bring efficiency, equity, and philanthropy to the table.  He served as the head of the GSA, deputy mayor of Washington DC, interim GM of the DC Metro, CFO of the Department of the Treasury, and in the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Management and Budget.  Mr. Kan is a former director of the Amtrak board, and a past executive for Lyft.  He is a current executive for e-commerce fulfillment startup Deliverr.

Our President Gets It

“President Biden is committed to supporting USPS workers so that they can continue delivering for their fellow Americans, particularly those in rural communities, veterans, and older Americans, who rely so heavily on the Postal Service.”  Additionally, the White House, upon announcing the nominees, stated,  “President Biden is also committed to strengthening and modernizing this critical public institution and its services to insure it continues serving the American people for decades to come.”

Posted For Gain

For those who wonder why the President did not hand DeJoy his walking papers straight away, a little background is needed.  The Postal Service is run by the USPS Board of Governors.  Two of its eleven members are the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General.  The other nine are presidential appointees, only five of which can be of the same political party, all who serve seven year terms.  Those nine choose the Postmaster General, as well as the Postal Inspector General, and are the only ones with the authority to remove either of them.  Trump, in conjunction with the then Republican-run Senate, put five members on the Board of Governors after prior members’ terms ended, thus seizing control.  That board elected DeJoy.

Collapse From Within

During the pandemic, the American public had to rely on the USPS for voting, prescriptions, benefits, and other critical services.  So why did DeJoy arbitrarily remove important equipment for mail processing such as sorting machines, which he ordered destroyed, and slash service hours, causing extremely widespread delays in deliveries?  His sabotage undermined the United States Postal Service rather than protecting it.  In the words of White House press secretary Jen Psaki, “I think we can all agree, most Americans would agree, that the Postal Service needs leadership that can and will do a better job.”  Mr. Tangherlini likely has the expectation of hastening the departure of DeJoy.

Tampering With US Mail

It is alleged that Trump placed DeJoy in power to cause havoc with the mail, specifically mail-in ballots, prior to the November 2020 election, the same election in which President Biden received a record number of votes.  The second intention is to work to privatize the Postal Service as much as possible, handing overpriced contracts to Trump supporters.  In fact, in 1992 New Breed Logistics received a noncompetitive contract of over $300 million from USPS.  A 2001 audit of this contract revealed that competitive bidding of this could have saved as much as $53 million.

The Man With The (Wrong) Plan

It does seem that Louis DeJoy received his position through bribery and corruption.  Since his appointment he has worked diligently to dismantle the infrastructure of the Postal Service. DeJoy has instituted a ten year plan to increase the cost of mail, shutter post offices, slow down delivery times, encourage late afternoon deliveries, achieved primarily through severe budget cuts.

They Deliver For Us

The United States Postal Service delivers mail to all; and from any home in the United States, including places where private mail providers do not, and will not deliver.  48% of all the world’s mail is handled by the USPS.  It receives zero tax revenue in order to operate, relying on postage and merchandise sales, and other services to fund operating expenditures, except for a small amount provided for by law to cover the costs associated with voters overseas or disabled.  All this is done by the efforts of the Postal Service’s 600,000 plus employees.  Even the Hallmark original series “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” reflects well the dedication and hard work of their personnel.

Makes You Want To Go Postal

Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth lead the request to the President to remove those Governors on the Board who stood idly by while this all occurred.  She said, “DeJoy is a disaster.  I am asking President Biden to restore trust in USPS – by sending every last member of its Board of Governors packing.”  As Georgia’s Stacey Abrams states, “The Postal Service is a lifeline for communities nationwide.”  She goes on to say, “The USPS is being manipulated.”

More Reasons To Complain

Countless millions of Americans continue to experience mail delays as a direct result of Louis DeJoy’s budget cuts and efforts to defund the Postal Service.  Congress must act quickly to save this American institution.  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is working to see DeJoy’s departure.  Senator Elizabeth Warren states, “We must reverse the damage done, investigate DeJoy’s conflicts of interest, and fully fund the USPS.  And we need to do it now.”   Senator Chuck Schumer has asked the Senate to pass $50 billion in funding to save the Postal Service.  Yet the USPS remains under Republican attack.

Competitive or Repetitive?

As financial issues continue to increase, the volume of mail processed plummets. In 2006, a law passed by Congress raised the salary cap for Postal Service executives, providing them with more than ample wages. The belief for the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act was that the USPS should operate as a business, needing to attract stellar officers with officers with competitive salaries. Yet the United States Postal Service, as per the Labor Department via a FOIA request, has repeated been cited for underpayment of employees, including mail carriers from 2005 through 2020. This illegal underpayment pattern has had little repercussions.

Out Of Line 

Media relations manager, David Partenheimer alleges executive bonuses for 2021 are not the most significant in the last decade. This is contradictory to the USPS public financial reports. Other federal agencies Cabinet members had pay caps in the neighborhood of $220,000, however, the Postal Service Board of Governors set the bar for the Postmaster General’s pay to be nearly 20% more than that of the Vice President. Very wide discretion is providing bonuses for performance and amenities was given to DeJoy. The Governors, in a parallel role to that of a corporation’s executive board, have no explanation as to why Louis DeJoy garnered better than was expected perks.

Called On The Carpet 

The Center for Public Integrity questioned board member, John Barger, the head of the compensation committee, about this but he failed to answer their questions. Mr. Partenheimer claims executive premiums are reflective of USPS improvements of Louis DeJoy’s “Delivering For America Plan.” Partenheimer said, “In just the last fiscal year alone, the Postal Service saw a 5.3% increase in revenue, a smaller net loss, and the strongest service performance for all mail categories since the previous year.” Perhaps the plan should have been called, “Delivering for DeJoy.”

More Graft

The Board of Governors, who put DeJoy in charge, is responsible for the annual performance award for meeting the goals regarding finances, customer service, and employee performance, as well as setting his regular salary.  He received over double the $30,600 established by the Board for the year in question.  “Given our financial condition, any individual award is unlikely to exceed the target amount”.   The president of the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Noah Bookbinder, said “(DeJoy) seems like the last person who should be the recipient of an unprecedented salary increase and bonuses.”  He further points out the intentional slower mail delivery by DeJoy at a time when countless millions were voting by mail in the presidential election.  It has been recently noted that Louis DoJoy, along with four of his deputies, have received perks and additional compensation greater than any other postal executives in the last ten years.

The Rich Get Richer…

As financial issues continue to increase, the volume of mail processed plummets.  The USPS has sought advice from abroad to learn about other nation’s modernizations of mail handling.  In 2021, DeJoy received a “performance” bonus of $75,000.  Other perks include financial planning, retirement counseling, and airline club memberships.  These extras are worth in the neighborhood of $56,000.  When added to his base compensation of $305,681, earning nearly as much as President Biden, he was the highest paid employee in the position of Postmaster General.  Starting pay for mail carriers is approximately $38,000 annually.  The average postal workers’ salary in 2020 was $51,150.  A citizen co-sponsored lawsuit against Louis DeJoy is under consideration.

There Is No Joy In Mailville…

As Americans rely on the services of the USPS to maintain communication in everyday life, the Postal Service is currently unable to move mail through its system fast enough, due to changes made by louis DeJoy.  The inability to purchase new vehicles and hire more personnel is crippling.  The Postal Service Reform Act, currently working its way through appears to have bipartisan support; the Act would eliminate the woes affecting today’s post office, which were brought on by the intentional mismanagement of Louis DeJoy.  There should be no (De)Joy in Mailville, for Louis should be struck out.

Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.