Going Postal

Senator Tom Carper (D-Del) has just launched his perennial effort to save the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from itself.  http://m.govexec.com/oversight/2015/05/congress-once-again-tries-save-postal-service/111976/?oref=govexec_today_nl


Senator Carper has a daunting task.  The USPS is still living in a parallel world.  Their latest idea for confronting reality is to “augment reality” http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/04/08/5-ways-the-postal-service-could-save-money-with-google-glass-type-eyewear/ .


What to do with the U.S. Postal Service?


A few years ago the USPS blinked in the wake of Congressional outrage and backed away from closing 600 rural post offices. This will probably be the first of many “blinks” over their strategy to close 252 mail-processing centers and 3,700 post offices in order to save $6.5 billion a year.
Rural interests and Members of Congress continue to howl about erasing pieces of Americana.


However, even with emergency measures that temporarily ran a surplus, the future is all about deepening deficits. 
http://www.dailynews.com/business/20140127/united-states-postal-service-rate-increase-largest-in-11-years


Congress and the USPS are starting from the wrong premise. It is not about preserving where Post Offices exist, it is about serving where their customers exist. Post Offices built even 20 years ago at best reflect rear view mirror thinking, and at worst political favoritism and Congressional earmarks.  None of this reflects market realities.  No one asks if there are any "best practice" solutions among the other 200 countries that have postal operations.


Two real world solutions already exist in America.


One has existed since the mid-1990s. The USPS actually experimented with 24-7 automated Postal Service. It was so successful that one of these automated kiosks was installed in the Longworth House Office Building when I was Chief Administrative Officer. On October 19, 1995, Postmaster General Marvin Runyon and I cut the ribbon on this facility. Its equipment allowed customers to weigh and mail letters and parcels, as well as process registered & certified mail. This was not your parents’ stamp vending machine.


So why not install these automated kiosks in the 600 rural post offices and others as well? I am sure this 18-year-old technology is even more efficient and cost-effective today. Postal employees could “ride circuit” and be available for that “human touch” on designated days and hours. At all other times, rural customers could do everything they need 24-7 in the local post offices they love.


Another solution is one that allowed Western Union to survive and thrive into the 21st Century. No one sends telegrams, but people still need to wire funds outside of the banking system. Western Union quickly realized its market niche while also realizing it did not need its own facilities. Enter the world of strategic partnering. Western Union partners with Walmart, Winn Dixie, Weis, and countless pharmacies and stores to provide their services – eliminating staffing and other fixed costs.


Why isn’t the USPS co-locating their 24-7 service kiosks in a similar network of partner locations? Why couldn’t there be mailboxes at Walmart and other large stores? Why couldn’t Walmart Service Centers handle certified mail?


This simple solution would allow the USPS to expand service into new population areas without building new facilities. The reason these “back to the future” options are not pursued is that few in government are creative or have the guts to fight the Postal Unions and other special interests to change with the times.


Until there is a will, the way forward will be ignored.

Storm Warnings

The media is anointing Obama our next President. However, before people get too enraptured with unified government under the Democratic Party think about what might happen to two of our most sacred rights – secret ballots and free speech.

One of the foundations of the Democratic Party is unionized labor. Senator Barack Obama and his Democratic colleagues in Congress have made passage of the misnamed “Employee Free Choice Act” a major priority. Secret ballots have been fundamental to our democracy since the 1850s. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 guaranteed secret ballots in union representation elections.

The Roosevelt Democrats demanded secret ballots because they wanted to protect union supporters from intimidation from company officials. Ironically, Kennedy-Obama Democrats want to reverse this 73-year-old protection to allow union organizers to intimidate pro-management employees.

Union representation has dropped to 7.5 percent in the private sector (membership public sector unions has actually grown to 35.9 percent). The drop in private sector unions has occurred because modern managers realize that collaborative management produces higher worker productivity and morale. Unions are marginalized in collaborative work environments. The drop in union membership reduces the amount of money unions use to support Democrats running for office. Therefore, the Democrats must find new tactics to increase union membership – even if this means reversing decades of federal labor law and destroying a fundamental component of our democracy.

The other target of the Democrats will be reinstating the misnamed “Fairness Doctrine”.

In 1987, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ended the “Fairness Doctrine”. This doctrine required equal time for all points of view on all television and radio broadcasts. FCC Chairman, Mark Fowler, and his colleagues foresaw the digital age and the rapid rise of cable television. They wisely decided that the marketplace for ideas should determine who is heard and how often. As more channel options arose, listeners and viewers would simply gravitate to those stations and shows that reflected their views or were naturally more balanced.

The ending of the “Fairness Doctrine” has stimulated the rise in political pundits and major news shows offering clear ideological perspectives. It has also allowed conservatives to virtually take over Talk Radio. This is where the Democrats want to change the rules. The liberals in Congress are not content to dominant the so-called “mainstream media”. They want eliminate the ideological marketplace and return to an era of limited choices. Liberals are certain that their left-skewed news shows will be able to masquerade as “objective” while conservative commentators will be relegated to highly controlled token appearances.

As Americans we should vigorously oppose changing rules that support our democracy. Neither Party should undermine free expression. The Democrats will be deservedly punished in 2010 and 2012 should they attempt such sordid power grabs.

A Rare Victory

Local activists do not often get to celebrate as clear a win as those in Jefferson County did today.

The rededication of the Charles Town Jail marked a strategic victory for preservation. The victory was not just the saving of a historic structure, but was also about the triumph of the rule of law and open government.

The Charles Town Jail was built in 1918 by A. B. Mullet. This was the firm that designed and built the San Francisco Mint and the Old Executive Office Building next to the White House. It was unusual for a small town to have such a major firm design its jail. The building was a unique blending of state-of-the-art security for the jail, with late-Edwardian style for the jailer’s personal dwelling that comprised a third of the structure.

Unique history was soon added to this unique style. In September 1921 William Blizzard and three thousand unionized coal miners marched toward nonunion coal mines near Blair Mountain in southern West Virginia. There had already been bloodshed. On May 19, 1920, ten people were killed in a shoot-out between union organizers and private security agents from Baldwin-Felts in Matewan in Mingo County. This clash was brilliantly chronicled in John Sayles’ 1987 movie of the same name.

Fearing more bloodshed, and to throw the weight of the state behind the mine operators, West Virginia Governor Ephraim Franklin Morgan called on President Warren G. Harding to send federal troops to support the Logan County Sheriff’s deputies in stopping the march. Harding even sent a squadron of airplanes to strafe and bomb the marchers. A five-day “war” ensued leading to the marchers dispersing. Over 600 miners were indicted on various charges and fifty- four, including William Blizzard, were charged with murder and treason.

The treason trials were considered too emotional and political to be tried anywhere near the mine fields. They were held in the furthest courthouse in the state – Jefferson County. The new jail and numerous rooming houses in Charles Town were swamped with the defendants, their families, supporters and opponents, and the news media. In the end only a few were convicted, and an amazing chapter in America’s labor history came to a close.

The Jefferson County Jail is a major witness to our turbulent past. However, in 2000, the Jefferson County Commission voted to demolish the Jail stating it needed the space for expanding a gravel parking lot. The Jefferson County Preservation Alliance to Save our Heritage (JCPASH) was formed to stop the destruction. Numerous lawsuits and court hearings ensued. The preservationists asserted, correctly, that state law required public buildings to undergo a historical review prior to demolition. When this was upheld at the West Virginia Supreme Court, the County government asked local legislators to change the law to allow dedicated funds to be used to demolish the structure without further scrutiny. Thankfully, an accounting error co-mingled some of these funds. When this was unearthed during another court hearing the Circuit Judge blasted local officials for their treachery. Newly elected commissioners were then able to reverse the vote and the jail was saved.

It is the duty of every citizen to tell their public officials when they are wrong. JCPASH had to mobilize hundreds of local citizens, wage an expensive six-year series of lawsuits, and elect two new commissioners before the government complied with a forty-year old law. The rededication of the jail was also a recommitment to citizen activism and the need for everyone to remain vigilant and outspoken in the face of tyranny and illegality – at all levels of government.

The Future of Teaching

Another school year is coming to a close. As students fan-out to playgrounds and summer jobs the perennial challenge is raised anew – where will we find enough quality teachers to meet the needs of our next academic year?

The perennial answer is “pay they enough”. But this addresses the wrong part of the challenge. For decades local school boards, and politicians at all levels, have fixated on competing for young professionals, fresh from college, to populate the classrooms of America. This keeps the teacher debate mired in a no-win proposition. Even in this stagnant economy, the public education system cannot amass enough of money to outbid the private sector for top talent.

Every top graduate, save for a dwindling number of idealists who may opt for teaching or the Peace Corps, aspires to work for the highest bidder. This is the marketplace at its most efficient. But this results in teachers being those who are not the top talent. Worse, state certification systems require public school teachers to have in depth knowledge of “teaching methods” not of a particular topic. I have watched as teachers, even private school teachers, get basic facts wrong as they present history, English, and geography to my fifteen-year-old.

The solution is to shift the marketplace. Our society is aging, but our seniors are remaining healthy and active. Public school systems need to shift their teaching requirements so that these “greybeards” can be brought into the classroom. A retired or semi-retired professional is (1) going to be attracted by far less money than a twenty-something, (2) have far more knowledge to impart than a twenty-something, and (3) be far more interested in teaching young people than welcoming people to Wal-Mart or to a fast food counter.

To tap this large and growing labor pool teacher unions, and their political allies, need to place the future of education above union membership. State boards of education need to break free of their fixation with teachers needing to know “teaching methods” instead of knowing real subject matter.

It is easier and cheaper to teach a subject matter professional how to teach, than it is to teach a teacher a subject. I have yet to see any real results from having public school teachers acquire in depth knowledge of “education methods”. If anything, the fixation on teachers knowing methodology instead of content has “dumbed-down” generations of Americans.

This entire matter was addressed at the first “Quality in Education” Conference sponsored by the National Governors Association. Over 2,000 education professionals and officials convened in Houston, Texas in November 1992. One of the first recommendations from the breakout sessions was to adjust teacher certification and recruitment policies so that retirees could be tapped as a full-time or part-time classroom resource.

It has been sixteen years since that national recommendation surfaced. We are no closer to its reality.