Sponsor
Aldermen Shakoor, Anderson, Coe, DeHahn, Hart, Helding, Kaplan, Maack, McCarthy, Mozol, Shields, Spangenberg, Stein, Weidner and Wisneski
Title
Resolution in Support of a Continued Presence of a Downtown Racine Post Office Facility
WHEREAS, the Racine City Council has learned that the United States Post Office has a plan that may include the closing of the Downtown Racine post office; and
WHEREAS, the City’s has had a downtown post office since 1874 and it has been at its current location since 1930 and is patronized by over 1,000 on-site customers per month; and
WHEREAS, for decades, the public and private sectors of the community have worked together, investing time and money in order to maintain the downtown as a dynamic and thriving center of community life, and, unlike many other cities, are seeing their efforts succeed; and
WHEREAS, a downtown retail post office is an essential service and is a key component of our community’s economic, environmental and cultural vitality; and
WHEREAS, the current post office is an economic engine for our downtown in which the post office and nearby businesses mutually reinforce each other; visitors to the post office often shop, eat and do business at local establishments and, in turn, these local businesses are major consumers of postal services; and
WHEREAS, as residents go about their daily lives, they’ve come to rely on the handy and friendly presence of a downtown post office retail facility and with the growth of several business, residential and arts initiatives in our downtown, this reliance will only grow; and
WHEREAS, a downtown post office retail facility is key to the City’s ethic of sustainability because, unlike a suburban site where up to 50% of the carbon impact is created by commuters, a centrally located facility allows citizens to walk, bike or take the downtown public transportation to and from the post office as well as other downtown establishments, thereby reducing vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions for as long as the facility continues to offer its services; and
WHEREAS, a downtown post office also helps the City maximize the value of existing infrastructure by keeping essential services consolidated downtown; and
WHEREAS, the downtown post office is a very busy and vital office whose closure would affect the 12,000 households and 550 post office box patrons that it serves.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RACINE, WISCONSIN that it supports the continued presence of the existing Downtown Racine Post Office Facility for the sustainability and service it provides to the citizens of Racine.
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Clerk be authorized and directed to send a copy of this resolution to the U.S. Post Office Officials, Congressman Ryan and Senators Kohl and Feingold.
Fiscal Note: N/A