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Congressman Tipton addresses Investigation into the USPS locally and management regionally

Local patrons of the Silver Cliff and
Westcliffe Post Office have dealt with
ongoing harassment, bad behavior, and poor
customer service by postmaster, Cindy
Crosby. In a letter obtained by The Valley
Beat, a positive resolution seems to be in
sight.
Last month, Congressman Scott Tipton held
a town hall meeting in Silver Cliff with
concerned citizens to hear of their
experiences and to further document their
grievances with Crosby. Tipton had
requested that Donna Walker, A/Manager,
Consumer and Industry contact and USPS
staff meet with his constituents to address
the ongoing issues, including the Silver Cliff
zip code. In an email to Tipton, Walker
confirmed on July 12 that she and two other
district staff would attend the meeting on
Monday July 29. They however, were no-
shows at the town hall. “This is completely
unacceptable and reflects the overall
indifference this community has been shown
by local and regional USPS management.”
The following information had not been
released to the public until now.
After the meeting on July 29, an employee
of the local post office confirmed to
Congressman Tipton that, “at approximately
9 a.m. on July 29, the Westcliffe/Silver Cliff
Post Office received a call from Ms. Crosby.
A clerk was instructed to put the phone on
the table, gather the employees around the
table and to put the phone on speaker. Once
everyone gathered, Ms. Crosby said she had
been on the phone with the CO/WY district
staff and she had been instructed to tell the
employees not to attend the meeting I had
scheduled for later that morning. Ms.
Crosby then said nobody could discuss the
post office with anyone outside of the USPS
and required each person to say yes if they
understood. She then called the Cotopaxi
post office with the same instructions, even
though the Cotopaxi Post Office is
employed by independent contractors.”
At approximately 12:45 p.m. that day,
Crosby entered the local post office where
news stations had tried to get her side of the
story. Crosby told her clerks to say she was
sick for the day while she was “hiding in
back.” The same anonymous source stated
the postal clerks lied for Crosby out of fear
of retribution even though they did not want
to lie. Tipton further mentioned that rural
letter carriers were forced to work until
midnight on July 28, “so the post office
would look its best prior to my visit.”
The USPS Employee Union representative
warned the employees they would be
“written up for disobeying a direct order and
be subject to an investigation if they spoke
publicly.”
​Tipton further wrote that there were postal
clerks that “courageously came forward”
hoping that it would improve the situation
and they would be able to do their job under
better circumstances.
Patrons of the post office may have noticed
a paper Crosby has placed on the wall that
states it can “refuse service to anyone,” this
goes against the mission of the postal
service but to many, it helps in their
argument that Crosby is unprofessional and
abusive.
Allegedly, Tipton’s office was notified that
Crosby was “reprimanded for her actions,”
by district staff, but problems are still
occurring. “The message sent to constituents
by not showing up to a community meeting
regarding the ongoing issues at their facility
is that they do not care about providing
reliable, affordable, and universal USPS to
them. This does not reflect the tradition of
the USPS.”
Tipton had emphasized that he has reached
out to the USPS OIG to put forth an
investigation into Crosby, Walker, Mr.
Raizada, and Mr. Trujillo in relation to any
orders given to employees of the local post
office to not be in attendance or speak of the
meeting held on July 29. They are also
looking into whether there was a cover-up or
lies, and whether regional management did
what they were asked to do in relation to the
bad conduct by Crosby
A meeting has been requested by the
congressman’s office with the Postmaster
General in Washington, D.D., Megan
Brennan, for the middle of September to
further discuss these serious matter. He put
the following “actions” be taken by her until
the meeting occurs:
“I request the USPS address the situation
regarding Ms. Crosby’s behavior and
management to find a solution that benefits
the Custer County community and USPS; I
request a written and verbal explanation for
how your staff will deal with delivery access
issues; and I request a written and verbal
explanation for how the Silver Cliff zip code
will be restored.”
As reported last month in The Valley Beat,
HB 3955, “The Silver Cliff Citizen’s Act,”
is still moving along and “active.”

- by Tracy Ballard

Labor Day closures on Sept. 2

The nation will pause next Monday,
September 2, in observance of Labor Day.
The following governmental agencies will
be closed.
All Custer County offices and special
districts will be closed and resume their
regular hours on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
Also closed will be Silver Cliff and
Westcliffe Town offices, First State Bank of
Colorado, Custer County Medical Clinic, the
Silver Cliff/Westcliffe Post Office, and
Custer County Public Health.
To find out if a specific business will be
closed, please contact them directly.
This year, we celebrate the 125th
anniversary
of this official holiday. The first Labor Day
was recognized on September 5, 1882 in
New York City. The holiday is dedicated to
the social and economic achievements of the
workers in our country made to the
continued prosperity we enjoy in this great
country.

- by Tracy Ballard

​New staff members named and election for three open seats on school board discussed during last week’s meeting of the CCSD

The Custer County School District board
met on Tuesday, August 20 and moved
through a packed agenda with precision.
They addressed new staff additions, heard
an update on school construction, and
discussed the school board election later this
fall.
The following individuals were unanimously
approved as teaching staff for the 2019-2020
school year. Elizabeth McFalls as the new
full-time Kindergarten teacher, Elizabeth
Goddard as the new full-time Third grade
teacher, Annette Vergilio as the new
paraprofessional, and Beverly Wood, and
Jennifer Searsas new teaching and office
substitutes.
Mike Benoit was named as head Volleyball
coach for the high school with assistant
Serenity Selden, and Latisha Schlabach as
the volunteer assistant.
Coaching Middle School Volleyball are: Joy
Parrish, assistant Laura Bachman, and
Madysen Paxton as the volunteer assistant.
High School Cross Country is coached by
Hal Walter, and Middle School Cross
Country will be led by Traci Terry. Leading
the high school football team is Troy
Bomgardner along with assistant coach Eric
Prins and volunteers Sterling Hinson and
Jonathon Sargent. Heading middle school
football this year is Jonathon Sargent and
assistant coach, Andrew Jones. There is not
a cheerleading coach at this time.
Gary Fischer will be coaching the high
school girls’ basketball team along with
Serenity Selden and Tim Lorenzen. The
middle school girls’ basketball coach will be
Keely Smith and assisted by Dave Smith.
The high school boys’ coach is Eric Prins
and assisted by Isaac Selden and Dave
Downing. A middle school boys’ basketball
coach has not been named at this time.
Leading high school wrestling this year is
Shannon Palmer and he will be assisted by
Caleb VanDeusen. Coaching the middle
school wrestling team is Jonathon Sargent.
The high school track and field coaches are
Joy Parrish and is assisted by Hal Walter
and Kaylee Chase. The middle school track
and field team is led by Eric Prins and
assistants Traci Terry and Andrew Jones.
Leading the high baseball team will be Steve
Schultz and Jonathon Sargent. The middle
school baseball team will be coached by
Whitney Day.
NV-5 gave their update to the board with
regards to the completion of construction on
the campus. It is anticipated that it will be
completed on time. Inspections are
scheduled for this Thursday, Aug. 29. If all
goes well with that, they should continue to
be on schedule. In the event a later starting
date would be needed the board will meet to
make that determination. There is confusion
in the community regarding the
transportation of children to various
locations in town for classes. This will NOT
happen. Everyone was in agreement that it
would be a logistical nightmare and that is
not an option.
The board approved the bid proposal from
San Isabel to provide service as the propane
provider.
There are three board seats up for election in
October. Those seats needing to be filled
are presently held by Monty Lee, Jim
Parkes, and Jake Shy. Shy announced he
will be running again if he garners the
number of signatures needed to be placed on
the ballot. Interested individuals have until
today to fill out an application and interest
form. For more information on your district,
please stop by the Custer County Clerk’s
office in the courthouse.
Preliminary enrollment numbers are
estimated to be above that of last year. For
2019-2020. It looks to be 398 compared to
last which was 381.
The next regular board meeting will be held
on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 4:30 p.m. in the
multipurpose room at the school.

- by Tracy Ballard
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The Valley Beat
1220 Williams Trace
Westcliffe, CO 81252

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