Hundreds Turn Out For Rep. Maxine Waters Town Hall Meeting

Hundreds of people packed the Hawthorne Memorial Center on Saturday as Congresswoman Maxine Waters took the opportunity to lead a special Town Hall meeting. This public forum comes in the wake of serious concerns amid numerous service-related complaints from constituents directly related to the United States Postal Service.

The Waters administration has signaled what looks to be an attempt to get ahead of the USPS issue to make meaningful change for Southern California residents.

The meeting lasted for a little more than four hours with hundreds of community members in attendance. The town hall was meant to bring politicians, the postal officials and residents together to discuss what the leaders are doing to address the growing number of problems with USPS.

The Congresswoman brokered the meeting in an effort to provide a stage to give USPS officials an opportunity to stand their ground while allowing constituents to raise their voices. Complexity resulting from a wide range of leadership challenges took front and center.

The panel consisted of Jennifer Selde, the Government Liaison Director at USPS, Abraham Cooper, District Manager at USPS, and Daniel Hirai, Sr. Operations Support Specialist at USPS.

The Congresswoman opened the forum by telling the panel “We’re very, very appreciative,” for what was intended to be an informational session.

Waters hoped to highlight the issues that have flooded her office when she opened the event. She went on to tell the panel, “But let me tell you what we hear. I was looking for my mail to come every day and it’s been four or five days since I’ve gotten any. My mail wasn’t delivered until nine o’clock at night. I go to the post office at a certain time and it’s closed. And, when I check on why my post office is closed I don’t get any answers,” Waters said.

“They don’t tell me what’s going on,” she continued. “Sometimes they tell us well we got a lot of people who didn’t come to work. Sometimes they don’t tell us anything. Sometimes I’m looking for my medicine to be delivered. If I don’t get it on time and I run out of medicine I could be in serious condition. I could die if I don’t get my medicine. There was food that was supposed to be delivered that was spoiled because it was not delivered on time and on and on and on,” she stated as she spoke directly to the panel. There was an uproar of cheer from the crowd.

Then Waters said to the panel, “What I’m trying to do is give you a flavor of what happens down on the ground and then you can respond and talk about how that relates to the overall responsibility and the number of people you serve and how you serve them.”

Using her congressional authority as a ranking member of the House Committee on Financial Services, the Congresswoman believes, “Congress must seize this moment to safeguard the integrity of the United States Postal Service.”

At Saturday’s meeting the Congresswoman stated, “I want to thank everyone for coming out this morning.” She expressed the importance of service as she recognized law enforcement, industry leaders and government officials who were represented from across Los Angeles County.

Waters then noted that, though invited, not a single postmaster accepted the invitation to attend the Town Hall meeting.

The multicultural attendees consisted of retirees, postal workers, union members, accountants, professors, engineers and many other diverse individuals from various other occupations who made up the passionate crowd with strong opinions.

Waters asked if everyone was ready and opened up the floor. One by one, residents took turns at the microphone.

The open mic forum moderated by the Congresswoman welcomed candid conversation, taking questions from citizens and listening to their concerns.

Members of the community who wanted to speak lined up in the aisles to present a comment or ask a question to the Congresswoman or direct their concerns to the event’s panelists. Many waited in line for over three hours to speak.

During public comment, many people saw fit to address the Congresswoman’s legacy in fostering change. Several speakers were on hand simply to thank the Congresswoman for her longstanding service to the residents of California.

Some emphasized the importance that Waters has had actively leading other causes and urged her to find more meaningful solutions with the USPS grievances.

Waters listened intently to attendees as they voiced concerns about matters pertaining to USPS.

Many of the questions from the audience at Saturday’s meeting focused on accountability. That expanded to mail being missed for days and sometimes full weeks, and mail arriving after dark.

Others from the community also say protections for letter carriers is necessary, and went on to mention what they see as challenges pointing to mail being delivered by female carriers past 10:00 p.m. as well.

Some residents were overcome with emotion after revealing chaotic problems with mail with multiple residents expressing that they had not received mail over several months, with the most severe case being a resident who had not received mail since April 4, 2024.

“I hear you,” the Congresswoman stated. “We’re making notes and addressing the complaints to see where to call and who to contact.”

Residents were extremely vocal about leadership issues. Some residents called for drastic action, even suggesting terminating USPS leaders. The open discussions turned heated at times as several outraged residents exposed issues they believed were important which brought some attendees to rage and occasional outbursts. The crowd witnessed as several speakers had to be escorted away from the microphone before the situation could escalate.

Residents expressed that they are dealing with mail operations issues, theft of mail, removal of community (blue) post office boxes, and post offices running out of money orders were also addressed.

“How are you going to run out of money orders if you’re the post office?” one attendee asked. While another stated, “I have no confidence in what you’ve presented today.”

“[We] don’t see these sorts of problems in Manhattan Beach. The issue is location, location, location. It’s only in the Black and brown communities. There is a socioeconomic disparity in the customer service,” said Eddie Urenda, one of the passionate speakers.

Property upkeep was a consistent concern that many residents addressed, calling for USPS to have proper maintenance. Residents complained about many issues such as roof leaks, buckets on the floor and overgrown lawns which the Congresswoman believed was unacceptable.

“We’ve been hearing a lot about the lack of upkeep. Some have complained that it doesn’t look like this — the way that we’re describing in Inglewood, on Vermont, in Compton — it doesn’t look that way in Malibu,” Waters stated, to a cheering crowd.

Waters also said that she recognized that some areas within the district including in Lennox no longer had a post office.

Waters then mentioned, “I just heard that the post office closed down in Compton for fifteen months. We got to fix that. We can’t have post offices closed down.”

“I want to look at the 43rd,” Congresswoman Waters stated. “I want to make sure Lennox has a post office. Lennox is full of small businesses. Every inch of Lennox is a small business. They’ve got to have service, so we have got to fix that,” she said, which drew applause from the massive crowd.

Another local resident asked why the post office closes for lunch. Other residents expressed struggles with inconsistent hours and not being able to access their mailboxes that they are paying monthly rent for because the building is closed when the sign indicates that it should be open for business.

“The post office being closed at lunch time we cannot have that,” Waters said.

“I think they hear you. They hear you. We’ll get something done about this,” the Congresswoman said.

Cooper said, “If we have facilities that are open from 9:30-5:00, it should not have been closed for lunch.” He added that, “They should be following the hours posted and not be closed during those hours. That should not happen.”

One resident also mentioned that the hours were inconvenient because she works from 8:00-5:00 and is not able to get mail services outside of those hours.

The department’s leaders, however, assured the community that USPS have been working just as hard. The panel highlighted several factors they believe may be behind the issues, including staff shortages.

Congresswoman Waters asked the panel, “Why does the post office open so late?” “The post office opens at nine thirty. Most people have already started their day at six, seven in the morning. Nine thirty, I mean the world has been started for a long time,” she said. To which Cooper responded that, “we are working on hiring more staff.”

He added that he’s hopeful with new changes underway that extended hours are a possibility in the near future.

The USPS district manager says progress has been made regarding the postal service’s system. And when it was mentioned that hiring more people could potentially fix the problem, Cooper retorted, “We have hired over 2,000 new employees.”

“We are constantly hiring,” according to Cooper. “You can put it on your website, we are hiring.”

Despite their differing views, USPS officials and residents agreed that staffing was a key issue suggesting extended processing delivery hours, and more training of current employees which residents believe could alleviate some of the problems.

There was agreement that the postal service is understaffed. Other suggestions included community members signing up to work at the post office.

“They need workers,” the Congresswoman stated. “There are a variety of kinds of jobs that are available from working with mail, sorting, letter carriers to working at the post office,” Waters added.

The Congresswoman went on to say that, “[years ago] these positions were held in high regard. We were able to get jobs at the post office where we couldn’t get them no place else and they paid more money than the other jobs. The post office has particularly helped minority people of color move up into the middle class.”

Cooper stated, “from A-Z, we have custodians. We have engineers. We have realtors in the postal service. We have attorneys. We have doctors. Everything you can think about. We have nurses and a different plethora of jobs. We have police offices. We have inspection services. You name it. We have it,” he stated. “We have health benefits. We have retirement benefits. Going to school at the same time, we encourage that. We have a lot of career programs and give them a career path,” he explained.

Nonetheless, all discussed trouble areas while the Congresswoman was adamant about exposing the issues to help leaders establish productive objectives and work towards solutions.

Others suggestions included training and the proper way to file grievances including appeals if you’ve been terminated for misconduct which several formal postal workers addressed.

“If you are fired you have an official system by which you appeal that firing and it can go all the way up to the justice department as I understand it,” the Congresswoman stated. “While your elected officials don’t run the post office but if you have a complaint where you have tried particularly in an environment because you don’t know the system this is where your elected official can help you to make sure you get in the system for an appeal so that you can make your case. If you get fired, don’t just walk away mad follow the system of how you appeal your firing.”

Some residents revealed that they had contacted Governor Newsom’s office and the Biden Administration regarding complaints. Congresswoman Waters did clarify that many issues are handled at the local level and that the state and federal level do not have jurisdiction over some resident matters.

“I hear you. We’re making notes. Get that to my office,” the Congresswoman said.

The USPS has been marred by controversy in recent years, including accusations of postal workers throwing away mail, particularly regarding voters ballots. Residents expressed concerns about voter ballots for the upcoming election.

Waters, fresh off of her appearance at the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago August 19-22, noted that she is being vigilant about voter suppression. She also did not miss an opportunity to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris at the Town Hall event.

“The Black caucus and the Hispanic caucus all are concerned about voter suppression at every level. We are watching because voter suppression is an issue. When Kamala is elected president we will get the blue boxes back. She knows what she needs to do,” Waters said.

The takeaway from Saturday’s Town Hall meeting was certainly the alarming number of complaints warranting the forum and open discussion on how to increase intervention and improve productivity.

The Town Hall meeting marks a significant shift in perspective as the Congresswoman stated, “I’m learning a lot today.”

“I just want to make sure that they hear your complaints and your concerns today and I want to make sure that the 43rd is being treated fairly and not only are we being heard but that something is going to be done about the issues,” Waters said.

The Congresswoman’s administration told me they will get to work on these issues right away.

“The response to the meeting has been great. It’s important for us to identify these matters and have open discussions so everyone can have a seat at the table,” Asya Evelyn, a casework manager for the district office, told me. She  stressed that Waters shared these concerns.

Waters Press Secretary Francis Taylor also addressed the need for transparency and urged residents to speak up as the Congresswoman is called upon to solve problems.

“We have ramped up our efforts. We need boots on the ground. The lack of communication is the root cause of breakdowns,” Taylor said, speaking directly with me. “By working together addressing the issues head on, the Congresswoman can bring together other leaders and departments for better solutions to execute tasks.”

The Press Secretary believes that pointing fingers is not the solution and that it is a more successful strategy to have clear objectives and an action plan that involves the people.

“We need to know what’s going on in the 43rd district. Our office has seen an uptick regarding this matter. Overwhelmingly folks have said that this is a major problem. And as you can see today, it’s a cause for increased concern,” Taylor noted.

Prior to Saturday’s public forum, Waters invited residents, representatives of the United States Postal Service and their labor unions. “Your participation is crucial as we address these important issues affecting our community,” Waters stated in a mailout to postal patrons of the 43rd Congressional district.

Waters had noted that the issue was multilayered from sporadic delivery, late delivery, significant disruptions, delays in the delivery of important items like medicines and paychecks, long lines, unacceptable customer service, workers overworked, post offices closed during the middle of the day, as well as threats to mail-in voting.

Waters District Manager Blanca Jimenez reiterated the Congresswoman’s commitment to continuing efforts to solve problems for the district. Jimenez applauded the Congresswoman’s dedication and added: “We are working for the people moving in a direction that benefits everyone, trying to meet the needs of residents in the 43rd district.”

“This was really an opportunity for her to see first hand all of the issues that people have been addressing regarding the postal service operations in our district. We want to make sure we address issues such as these and bring about solutions. The Congresswoman is very personable and extremely interested in doing right by her constituents,” Jimenez told me at the meeting.

The extraordinary general meeting had another highlight. Much to her surprise, the Congresswoman was honored with a presentation from 100 Veterans Inc. The organization’s founder Elmore Beck Jr. presented Waters with a custom plaque stating, “to Congresswoman Waters in appreciation of your outstanding support to our community,” which she read aloud in front of the cheering crowd.

In the end, the Congresswoman expressed her profound disappointment and disgust to what she believes are solvable problems. “There should be a system that you make it happen. Let’s get it done,” she told the panel.

With this forum, Waters hopes to work on identifying and alleviating issues. USPS leaders seemed receptive to the ideas and willing to work to improve things, something Waters hopes they will follow through on.

She also made sure that people in the audience understood that accountability is non-negotiable. “I want you to know they are responsible for this postal service. They must respond to our complaints,” Waters stated.

“Community meetings are necessary to talk about how you work and what you do and hear the complaints from the community.”

“Again, I’m so delighted that they’re about it. I didn’t want to abuse them in any way. I didn’t want to attack them in any way. I wanted them to share information and listen to you and think about what they can do to make it easier on you to get that mail,” the Congresswoman explained.

“What is great about the United States Postal Service is it’s in the Constitution of this country. We are considered the greatest in the world. We should not have many of the kinds of complaints that we’re having. They can do better than this.”

“I want you to know that I’m thinking that the local post masters really are going to have to supervise better. I’m also thinking the training is going to have to be better. I’m also thinking there may be some discipline that needs to be better,” Waters said.

“I was told when I first started to organize this meeting, that we don’t do community meetings. Well as long as I’m the Congresswoman you’re going to do community meetings,” Waters said to an enthusiastic screaming crowd. “If I have to put it into law, I will do that,” she stated.

Waters closed by saying, “Thank you for being here as constituents. Thank you for the work that you do and for caring enough to come here this morning and share your story and to meet those who are responsible.”

“You understand what democracy is all about. You understand the rights of the people to be involved in the decision of those who elect or are appointed to serve and I appreciate that.”

The fact that the Congresswoman addressed these issues publicly with hundreds of constituents who have grave concerns with USPS suggests there may be deeper issues behind the scenes with the postal service and perhaps others across the state, and possibly across America, experiencing the same sort of problems. Interesting times.