Officials join fight to save Olivehurst postal facility

Those fighting to keep the Olivehurst mail sorting facility open are forming a new strategy, while acknowledging their plans are a last-ditch effort.

Two congressmen, along with officials from Yuba County, Yuba City and others affected by the facility's pending closure, hope to convince federal postal officials, and failing that a federal inspector general, to reconsider the closure decision.

"We're still trying to formulate a plan so people understand the full impacts of this," said Yuba County Administrator Robert Bendorf. "It affects jobs, it affects mail delivery, and it affects several other critical areas."

Bendorf and others mobilizing the effort believe the U.S. Postal Service's study on whether to close the Olivehurst facility on Arboga Road didn't consider enough points or take in enough commentary.

The mail sorting facility, which employs about 140 people, sorts mail for everyone with a ZIP code starting with 959: Yuba, Sutter, Colusa, Butte, Nevada, Sierra and Plumas counties.

But the study and outreach efforts connected to it only really included Yuba and Sutter counties, said a representative for U.S. Rep. Wally Herger, R-Chico, even though it affected many more people. "The only stakeholders notified were in Marysville and Yuba City," said Herger district director Fran Peace. "They only had one public meeting, and that was in Marysville."

She said Herger and U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, whose district includes many parts of the 959 area code, will join with local officials in the next few weeks in Washington, D.C., to lobby for re-examining the issue.

The effort could involve either the U.S. Postmaster General, or asking for a study review by the Council of the Inspectors General, an independent federal oversight group.

In addition to the stakeholders issue, the lobbying effort will point out potential effects on agriculture inspections and vote-by-mail ballots.

Because Olivehurst's operations would be transferred to West Sacramento, Yuba and other counties would likely lose the guarantee of agricultural inspections of incoming mail to ensure no pests or other unwanted intruders make their way into the region.

"We could be importing things that could destroy our agriculture," said Yuba County Supervisor Andy Vasquez, adding he's also concerned the West Sacramento plant — unlike Olivehurst's — is in an area subject to flooding.

And a delay in vote-by-mail ballots processed through West Sacramento would disenfranchise voters in the area, county clerks have said.

U.S. Postal Service officials have defended the decision to close the facility, announced last week, as a necessary step in the face of declining mail volume.

USPS spokesman Augustine Ruiz said he didn't have any comment on a move to have an inspector general review the study.

"All impacts were considered, and this was the best business decision to make," he said, adding he wasn't aware of any previous time when a decision like the one to shutter the Olivehurst facility was later reversed.

But even if success is a longshot, Bendorf, Peace and others said the effort is worth pursuing.

"Our influence before was very limited, and we want them to understand that," Bendorf said. "We're not giving up."

CONTACT Ben van der Meer at 749-4709 or bvandermeer@appealdemocrat.com.