By Shannon Lukens. (Reimbursement documents for postal contractors sit on the desk of the Steamboat Springs Postmaster on Feb. 20, 2024.)
UPDATE FRIDAY MORNING, MARCH 8, 2024.
Local subcontractors for the Steamboat Springs post office ARE getting paid, probably today. Petrona Pusey is the contractor in Steamboat Springs. She was paid Friday morning, over one million dollars for three contracts in October and one in November. She had taken out a loan to pay the subcontractors for October, so she is first paying back that loan. Then about 17 of the local subcontractors who are still owed money will be paid, probably today, and at the latest Monday.
The subcontractors from Steamboat Springs and Craig, and others from around the state, had been asked to drive down to the postal facility in Golden where help was needed with delivering Amazon Packages and Express Mail. This included over the busy holiday season.
Steamboat Springs Postmaster Alex Garza says he is working to get the subcontractors paid for the rest of the work, and that is in the process of being done. The local contractor says she is confident that it will happen. The paperwork had been incorrect before which has caused the delays in processing.
When Alex Garza took over as postmaster in Steamboat Springs last November, he replaced another postmaster who was relocated to Craig. That person had not received his postmaster training, but postal officials in Denver confirm it was completed Feb. 16.
ORIGINAL POST:
Local subcontractors with the local post office say they haven’t been paid for the work they’ve done since last October. The local postmaster says he is working to get them paid. USPS out of Denver won’t give any specifics on when it will happen.
The local subcontractors who are frustrated and not getting paid are from Steamboat Springs and Craig. And there are 54 statewide subcontractors (including from Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins) who haven’t been paid. The local contractor in Steamboat Springs, Petrona Pusey, says she has submitted the paperwork, back in November, and monthly since then. She prefers not to be named, but she said today the total money owed is over $1 million.
“We have never had a problem getting paid before. We just need to get paid so we can pay the contractors. Because we’ve done the work. The work has already been done since October.”
The Steamboat Springs Postmaster, Alex Garza, who started in Steamboat Springs in mid-November, says the paperwork has been incorrect, so the requests have been declined to be processed for payment.
Subcontractor Travis Pyles contacted Steamboat Radio News in frustration saying, “people are being evicted, losing cars, and marriages.” He asked if Steamboat Radio News could help.
“We’ve done the work. We’ve driven over the pass over the snowy part of the season, the high demand during Christmastime. Everything they’ve asked us to do. We’ve worked on Christmas Eve, holidays. We’ve done our part and yet we’ve seen no payment since October. At this point, people are losing their marriages, people are losing their cars and people are even being evicted from their houses. It’s just time to receive some payment.”
Another subcontractor is Neil Linton, who has delivered mail in Steamboat Springs for three years. He has been paid for that by the USPS, but not for the extra subcontractor trips to help out in Golden.
“Every day somebody asks, ‘Are we getting paid today? Are we getting paid tomorrow.’”
Joseph Pearce is another subcontractor from Steamboat Springs, who started helping out as a subcontractor in October.
“We’ve been waiting for close to six months now. Nobody else could perform the work. We did it. They would call us at a moment’s notice at 4:30 in the morning wanting us down there by 8 a.m. and we provided a service for them, and here we are left out in the cold and haven’t been paid. They’re not treating us fair. We were able to help them out of a bad situation. We all have a lot of money out in expenses and gas, wear and tear on our vehicles and we’ve just been left out in the blue.”
We started sending multiple emails to the media contacts at the corporate office in Denver on Feb. 10, asking, “Contractors/carriers have reached out to me that they are not being paid for delivery mail and Amazon packages for the postal service. Can you please let me know how many and why they are not getting paid for servicing the Steamboat Springs community?” No response.
We sent emails Feb. 12 and Feb. 13, asking, “When can they expect to be paid? When can I expect to hear from you? Thank you.”
David Rupert, the Manager of Strategic Communications with the United States Postal Service emailed on Feb. 12, “Ask the original correspondent if he is a subcontractor.”
Feb. 15 – We wrote again. “Please send me an update of when they will get paid. Thank you.”
More requests were sent Feb. 19 and Feb. 20.
That’s when we met with Steamboat Springs Postmaster Garza who moved to be postmaster in Steamboat Springs from Edwards, on Nov. 18.
He said part of the problem is something called “deadhead miles.” Steamboat Springs subcontractors are allowed to be paid for miles to and from the distribution center in Golden, where they would go to get the mail. It’s 294 miles round trip. Here’s Linton again.
“We have a lot of money tied up in this from going to Denver and all this. It’s just a very hard situation for us.”
Pyles agreed, saying it is more than just the time back and forth.
“We’ve got investments on our end of gasoline, vehicles, tires, brakes, the whole thing, not to mention compensation for our time and any profits. We haven’t received anything. It’s time for answers. If we’re not going to get payment, at least answers, but we deserve the payment.”
But Garza says other subcontractors who signed on to help around the state aren’t supposed to be paid for “deadhead miles.” Garza said they were under the impression from the contractor that they were.
Much of the deliveries from these subcontractors are for Amazon and Express Mail deliveries.
Another delay, according to Garza, was that background checks were needed on all of the subcontractors and that wasn’t done. So he went down to Golden on Sunday, Feb. 25, to get that information to start that process so that people can be paid. He also needed copies of their driver’s licenses. Garza said the Steamboat contractor didn’t do that which also slowed down the payments.
Garza said he has submitted some of the paperwork but the Inspector General now has to approve it.
Garza also added that the local post office staff is all paid. It is just the contractor and subcontractors who are waiting for payment for the extra trips to help in Golden, since October.
The contractor has sent Steamboat Radio News screen shots from subcontractors who are quitting because they haven’t been paid. She says none of the subcontractors have gone to the Golden distribution facility in February or March.
Garza said he offered to the contractor to pay their regular miles while the deadhead miles are being investigated but she declined.
The contractor says she was told they would be paid on Friday, Feb. 16 and Friday, Feb. 23. Nothing has been paid.
She also told Steamboat Radio News today (Thursday, March 7) that Contract Delivery Service (CDS) has asked to have a Zoom call with her on Friday, March 8.
(File photo of James Boxrud in the Steamboat Springs Post Office from March 8, 2023)
We reached out to corporate media contacts in Denver again on March 2, and heard back Monday from James Boxrud who said he was emailing the people who write the checks to find out when the contractor, and subsequently the subcontractors, will be paid. No answer end of day Monday.
We followed up Tuesday at 12:58 p.m. and he texted, “I haven’t heard back yet.”
Then we were very specific asking the exact date when these people can expect to be paid for their work since last October, and this is the response from James Boxrud on Tuesday at 3:19 p.m.
“USPS has received of the paperwork from the contractor and local management has submitted to our Contract Delivery Service (CDS) team. Disbursements will be made to the contractor directly from accounting after CDS validation. Thank you for reaching out.”
We again asked for a specific date and again have not heard back.
Steamboat Radio News has also sent this information to the offices of U.S. Senators Hickenlooper and Bennet and Congressman Joe Neguse, since the USPS is a federal entity.
When Garza took over as postmaster in Steamboat Springs last November, he replaced another postmaster who was relocated to Craig. That person had not received his postmaster training, but Boxrud says it was now completed Feb. 12-16.
Past coverage of U.S. Post Office issues from Steamboat Radio News and some statewide media outlets
- Jan. 3, 2024 — USPS POSTMASTER GENERAL RECEIVES DEMANDS FOR ACTION FROM AUDIT REPORT
- Dec. 27, 2023 – 1093 FORMS ARE BEING TURNED IN FOR A FREE P.O. BOX IN STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
- Dec. 6, 2023 — US POSTMASTER GENERAL RELEASES AUDIT ON MOUNTAIN TOWNS
- Nov. 27, 2023 — CONGRESSMAN NEGUSE CONFIRMS IMPENDING P.O. BOX REFUNDS
- Nov. 19, 2023 — POSTAL PROBLEMS IN CRAIG ARE BEING ADDRESSED
- Nov. 19, 2023 — USPS PROCESS TAKES NEXT STEP FOR LOCALS TO GET FREE P.O. BOXES
- Jan. 31, 2023 — CONGRESSMAN JOE NEGUSE CALLS FOR ACTION TO MAIL PROBLEMS IN STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
- March 8, 2023 — STEAMBOAT SPRINGS POST OFFICE UPDATE FOR MARCH 8, 2023
- March 7, 2023 U.S. SENATORS MEET WITH POSTMASTER GENERAL
- Feb. 17, 2023 – STEAMBOAT SPRINGS POST OFFICE UPDATE FOR FRIDAY, FEB. 17
- Feb. 13, 2023 – LATEST UPDATES FROM STEAMBOAT SPRINGS POST OFFICE
- March 6, 2023 — Denver 7 News Story Steamboat resident says pay for rural mail carriers doesn’t match U.S. Postal Service’s promotion
- March 4, 2023 – 9News Colorado Mountain towns suing
- March 1, 2023 — CBS 4 Mountain towns pick attorneys to potentially sue USPS
- Jan. 31, 2023 — Fox 31 USPS calls on workers to come in and help Steamboat
- Feb. 8, 2023 — Corrigan wants answers to PO Problem
- Feb. 6, 2023 — Should you be paying for your PO Box in Steamboat?
- Jan. 31, 2023 — Congressman Neguse calls for action
- Jan. 30, 2023 — Volunteers start cleaning the post office
- Jan. 25, 2023 — Icy Ruts cause huge damage to cares in PO Parking Lot
- Jan. 11, 2023 – 9News Story Some Steamboat Springs residents say they haven’t received mail for weeks
- Jan. 11, 2023 – STEAMBOAT SPRINGS POST OFFICE UPDATE