By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews
YACHATS – The Yachats post office is without a postmaster.
When and why Yachats postmaster Chanda Kowitz, who had been on the job for two years, is no longer there remains a mystery to the public. But a U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman has confirmed she is no longer on the job.
Regional USPS spokesperson for Oregon Kimberly Frum initially said Monday that Kowitz was no longer employed by the postal service. However, she contacted YachatsNews early Tuesday to say she had misspoken.
“She is still employed, she is just on temporary leave,” Frum said. “But because of privacy laws I am not allowed to elaborate any further.”
Kowitz stepped in as the Yachats postmaster Jan. 1, 2022 following six months of substitutes and occasional closures. She replaced Jeff Davis, who had been the postmaster for 10 years before retiring in July 2021.
Kowitz, a Yachats resident who grew up in Waldport, began as a custodian in the Waldport Post Office in 2018 and became a clerk there in 2020. She was in charge of the Waldport and Yachats post offices while Waldport postmaster Peter Roina was on a three-month assignment in Bend before she became the Yachats postmaster.
Roina praised Kowitz in the past, saying she is an “extremely fast learner, very positive and energetic” and that “she would do great things for the USPS.”
The Yachats Post Office had struggled with staffing issues prior to Kowitz arrival, but Frum said despite Kowitz departure and rumors that another clerk has left, there would be no drop off in service. Attempts by YachatsNews to reach Kowitz by email were unsuccessful.
“The management that oversees this post office knows the importance of having the office staffed with competent people,” Frum said. “They are definitely going to do their best to make sure that the staffing level remains the way it should and that customers will not suffer for any service, whether it’s behind the counter or deliveries.”
In Yachats, the post office is more than a place to pick up mail and packages. It serves as a social hub where residents can catch up on how everyone’s doing, serves as a community bulletin board for announcements of all sorts, and is a daily destination for many of the village’s walkers.
One change that customers noticed Jan. 2 was a strict adherence to USPS regulations about where a P.O. box number was written on an address to be delivered by Amazon, United Parcel Service or Federal Express. If incorrect the Yachats staff was instructed to return them to the sender. In past years staff would work around that by knowing which residents had which post office boxes.
Two signs were placed on Yachats’ post office windows and bulletin boards Monday giving customers instructions on how to adhere to USPS regulations on post office boxes and addressing.
- Garret Jaros is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com
My thanks go out to Ms. Kowitz, who’s done her best to take care of Yachat’s postal customers these last two years. Best of luck to Jennifer (sorry, don’t know her last name) and other workers at our local post office who no doubt have their hands full, and will do their best to continue to take care of our local facility.
The deliveries of packages at the Post Office leaves a lot to be desired. I’ve had a package which had my PO Box number on it and never received it. The tracking number which was checked indicated it wasn’t in the “system.”
When I checked with the seller and Paypal with whom I went through to pay for the item they both indicated the Post Office was in receipt of the item. Therefore, either the item was lost or appropriated by someone, and I was out of a lot of money! This also is not the first time it’s occurred.
I don’t understand why they’re returning packages to the seller because that has to cost the Post Office money to do this. Guess it’s too time consuming to ascertain which mailbox the item belongs too and just easier to return them.
I’ve had items that were returned to the seller and never informed that this was done. Additionally, the seller didn’t inform me of the returned items. So, if it wasn’t followed up by myself I would’ve been out of the item in addition to the money I paid for it.
It’s no wonder the postal service is going broke and the government wants to privatize it, which would matters worse.They’re delivering mail to other parts of Yachats and I don’t see why we can’t have mailboxes here for mail delivery. I don’t feel that it would be an extra burden for the Post Office and it would be more job security for them. It’s a business and should be run like a business. Otherwise, get somebody to step up and do it right!