Even though Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has backed off from his plan to sabotage the US Postal Service, he should be fired for the harm that he has already done as well as for his conflicts of interest. The Board of Governors of the USPS has the power to fire the Postmaster General. 39 U.S. Code § 202.
Federal law also provides that the Governors “shall represent the public interest generally.” The Postmaster General has acted contrary to the public interest by slowing down mail service, cutting overtime, eliminating mail-sorting machines and removing mailboxes around the country. Each of these sorting machines can sort 35,000 pieces of mail per hour.
Documents obtained by CNN indicate that 671 machines used to sort letters or other pieces of mail are slated for “reduction” in dozens of cities this year. This is about 10% of the total sorting machines. In addition, the USPS has removed mailboxes in Oregon, Montana, Indiana and in Manhattan. Trucks filled with the blue metal boxes alarmed Oregon residents in Portland, where four were removed, and in Eugene (28 boxes) recently.
DeJoy continues to hold a $30 million equity stake in his former company, XPO Logistics, a USPS contractor, which could conceivably partner with a competitor if the agency stumbles.
Postmaster DeJoy also purchased Amazon stock options after he was appointed postmaster general, giving him the right to buy shares of Amazon at a price much lower than their current market price, according to his financial disclosure filings. Amazon competes directly with the postal service in the delivery of packages.
The position of Governor of the United States Postal Service is a part-time job. Governors are paid $30,000 per year, plus $300 per day for not more than 42 days of meetings each year and travel expenses.
The board is composed of four Republicans and two Democrats, mostly political hacks. Robert Duncan is CEO, Chairman and president of a small bank in Kentucky and longtime Republican Party fundraiser, a close associate of Mitch McConnell. McConnell recommended that President Trump appoint Duncan’s son to be the US attorney for the eastern district of Kentucky.
John Barger is the managing director of NorthernCross Partners, an investment and advisory firm providing private capital and advisory services to middle market companies and private equity funds.
Ron Bloom is a Managing Partner and Vice Chair in Brookfield’s Private Equity Group, responsible for investment origination, analysis and execution across North America. Prior to joining Brookfield, Mr. Bloom was Vice Chairman, US Investment Banking, at Lazard, focused on restructurings, mergers and acquisitions. Bloom was the Car Czar under President Obama. He botched the auto bailout by failing to require General Motors and Chrysler to keep US auto plants in operation. After these two US auto companies were bailed out they moved production outside of the United States.
Roman Martinez is a director of Rmiv Advisory LLC in Palm Beach, Florida.
Donald Moak is a former Delta Airlines Boeing 767 pilot and former president of the Air Line Pilots Association.
Bill Zollars is the former head of a trucking company called YRC Worldwide. YRC is currently being sued by the federal government for allegedly defrauding the Pentagon while Zollars was CEO. Furthermore, the federal government extended a $700 million taxpayer-backed loan to YRC Worldwide. This company was valued at only $70 million in total the previous day, and had warned shareholders in May that it was in danger of going out of business. Zollars also serves on the board of directors of Cigna insurance company.
The board is a motley group of partisan political appointees, mostly big business investors who know little about the Postal Service. Let them know how you feel about the Postmaster General’s gutting the mail service. Tell them to fire Louis DeJoy for weakening the US Postal Service and for his blatant conflicts of interest.
Email addresses for the members of the Board of Governors of the US Postal Service:
Robert Duncan: mduncan@inezdepositbank.com.
John Barger: barger.jm@gmail.com.
Ron Bloom: ron.bloom@brookfield.com.
Roman Martinez: roman@rmiv.com.
Donald Moak: lee.moak@moakgroup.com.
Bill Zollars: directoraccessmailbox@cigna.com
Joel Joseph is a civil rights attorney and chairman of the Made in the USA Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting American-made products. Email joeldjoseph@gmail.com. Phone 310 MADE-USA.
From The Progressive Populist, October 1, 2020
Blog | Current Issue | Back Issues | Essays | Links
About the Progressive Populist | How to Subscribe | How to Contact Us
PO Box 819, Manchaca TX 78652