Summary
The City celebrated the community on Tuesday, and vowed to challenge USPS leadership's efforts to move Illinois mail distribution out of state.
In its March 19 City Council meeting, the City of Springfield issued honors to the Springfield Urban League, Community Access Project 1908, and the Springfield YMCA.
Acting as Mayor Pro Tem, Ward 9 Alderman Jim Donelan read two proclamations; the first of which declared March 19, 2024, “Springfield Cultural District Recognition Day”. Springfield Urban League CEO & President Marcus Johnson, as well as Springfield Project President Dominic Watson of CAP 1908, gave their thanks to the City for their recognition and support for the cultural district.
“We’re going to continue to do the work,” Watson promised. “We don’t necessarily seek recognition, but this moment – for us – is significant.”
Johnson added, “We know that the work is before us to ensure that our community’s voice, their desire, their needs, are matching the expectations of a greater quality of life — so we look forward to doing that work and presenting back to the Council, and to all of you who are watching, the good work that we continue to do for our Springfield community and the East Side of Springfield.”
“I can’t even remember too many 10-0 votes, and CAP 1908 was a 10-0 vote,” recalled Alderman Shawn Gregory of Ward 2, encouraging the rest of the present City Council to gather for pictures with Johnson and Watson.
The second proclamation issued by the City announced Monday, March 25, 2024, as a day of celebration for the Springfield YMCA’s 150th anniversary. The proclamation described the organization as “a beacon of community strength, resilience and service” since its establishment in 1874.
Calling the organization the “Great Equalizer,” Springfield YMCA CEO Angela Sowle thanked the City for its recognition.
“We believe that everybody should have the opportunity to discover who they are, and be the best version of themselves while removing all barriers — including finances. I think we’re one of the only organizations that can boast that in this community… but it takes a village; and so with the help of everybody behind us and all the community members who use the YMCA, we’re able to continue that service.”
Lou Bart, the YMCA’s communications & marketing director, invited the public to participate in celebrations next Monday starting at 1:00 p.m. at the basement of the First Presbyterian Church, located at 321 S. 7th Street in Springfield.
The mood around the horseshoe turned sober, however, when the Springfield President of the American Postal Workers Union, Johnny Bishop, stepped forward to speak to the City: Bishop asked the Council for help in combating the latest attempt by the US Postal Service’s Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to cut mail infrastructure in Illinois.
Bishop insisted that the Post Office’s public hearing on Tuesday, March 26 6:00 PM at the Hilton Garden Inn at 3100 S. Dirksen Parkway, Springfield, which overlaps with the City Council’s weekly meetings, was announced as abruptly as possible to minimize the public’s turnout and the City’s ability to formulate a response.
“They did this purposefully to [let us] have the least amount of power there that we can with the City Council, with the alderpeople, with our mayor,” said Bishop. “They want to send your mail to St. Louis, which is in the bottom of the country for getting stuff [delivered] on time.”
He also explained that similar changes conducted in the southeast of the country resulted in dramatic breakdowns in postal delivery: a distribution center in Georgia, which was recently designated as the sole regional delivery center for mail, was so overwhelmed that it has resulted in several days’ worth of delivery trucks being backed up on surrounding roads.
Addressing the USPS’s claims that the proposed changes would not result in layoffs, Bishop explained that the downgrading of postal service in Springfield would result in the Post Office attempting to relocate workers to other facilities as an indirect layoff tactic: “They can’t lay us off — all they can do is either move us or have us do a different job somewhere else, and if [you don’t want to or can’t] then you’ve gotta quit.”
Alderpeople remarked that a considerable outpouring of anger from the community had been sent to their offices following the USPS’s announcement. Bishop told the Council he and the postal workers want as many citizens as possible to turn out to the meeting.
“We need everybody’s support,” he pleaded.
The City Council vowed to do everything possible to ensure the public was informed of how to combat the decision.
The community is once again encouraged to voice their opinions on the proposed changes to the Post Office’s comment portal online: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/mpfr-springfield-il
City Council Report: City honors cultural district, YMCA; calls on community to fight USPS changes
Summary
The City celebrated the community on Tuesday, and vowed to challenge USPS leadership's efforts to move Illinois mail distribution out of state.
In its March 19 City Council meeting, the City of Springfield issued honors to the Springfield Urban League, Community Access Project 1908, and the Springfield YMCA.
Acting as Mayor Pro Tem, Ward 9 Alderman Jim Donelan read two proclamations; the first of which declared March 19, 2024, “Springfield Cultural District Recognition Day”. Springfield Urban League CEO & President Marcus Johnson, as well as Springfield Project President Dominic Watson of CAP 1908, gave their thanks to the City for their recognition and support for the cultural district.
“We’re going to continue to do the work,” Watson promised. “We don’t necessarily seek recognition, but this moment – for us – is significant.”
Johnson added, “We know that the work is before us to ensure that our community’s voice, their desire, their needs, are matching the expectations of a greater quality of life — so we look forward to doing that work and presenting back to the Council, and to all of you who are watching, the good work that we continue to do for our Springfield community and the East Side of Springfield.”
“I can’t even remember too many 10-0 votes, and CAP 1908 was a 10-0 vote,” recalled Alderman Shawn Gregory of Ward 2, encouraging the rest of the present City Council to gather for pictures with Johnson and Watson.
The second proclamation issued by the City announced Monday, March 25, 2024, as a day of celebration for the Springfield YMCA’s 150th anniversary. The proclamation described the organization as “a beacon of community strength, resilience and service” since its establishment in 1874.
Calling the organization the “Great Equalizer,” Springfield YMCA CEO Angela Sowle thanked the City for its recognition.
“We believe that everybody should have the opportunity to discover who they are, and be the best version of themselves while removing all barriers — including finances. I think we’re one of the only organizations that can boast that in this community… but it takes a village; and so with the help of everybody behind us and all the community members who use the YMCA, we’re able to continue that service.”
Lou Bart, the YMCA’s communications & marketing director, invited the public to participate in celebrations next Monday starting at 1:00 p.m. at the basement of the First Presbyterian Church, located at 321 S. 7th Street in Springfield.
The mood around the horseshoe turned sober, however, when the Springfield President of the American Postal Workers Union, Johnny Bishop, stepped forward to speak to the City: Bishop asked the Council for help in combating the latest attempt by the US Postal Service’s Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to cut mail infrastructure in Illinois.
Bishop insisted that the Post Office’s public hearing on Tuesday, March 26 6:00 PM at the Hilton Garden Inn at 3100 S. Dirksen Parkway, Springfield, which overlaps with the City Council’s weekly meetings, was announced as abruptly as possible to minimize the public’s turnout and the City’s ability to formulate a response.
“They did this purposefully to [let us] have the least amount of power there that we can with the City Council, with the alderpeople, with our mayor,” said Bishop. “They want to send your mail to St. Louis, which is in the bottom of the country for getting stuff [delivered] on time.”
He also explained that similar changes conducted in the southeast of the country resulted in dramatic breakdowns in postal delivery: a distribution center in Georgia, which was recently designated as the sole regional delivery center for mail, was so overwhelmed that it has resulted in several days’ worth of delivery trucks being backed up on surrounding roads.
Addressing the USPS’s claims that the proposed changes would not result in layoffs, Bishop explained that the downgrading of postal service in Springfield would result in the Post Office attempting to relocate workers to other facilities as an indirect layoff tactic: “They can’t lay us off — all they can do is either move us or have us do a different job somewhere else, and if [you don’t want to or can’t] then you’ve gotta quit.”
Alderpeople remarked that a considerable outpouring of anger from the community had been sent to their offices following the USPS’s announcement. Bishop told the Council he and the postal workers want as many citizens as possible to turn out to the meeting.
“We need everybody’s support,” he pleaded.
The City Council vowed to do everything possible to ensure the public was informed of how to combat the decision.
The community is once again encouraged to voice their opinions on the proposed changes to the Post Office’s comment portal online: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/mpfr-springfield-il
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