Congressman Tipton addresses Investigation into the USPS locally and management regionally
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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
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
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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 |