Commission to pursue Department of Justice complaint after repeated delays fixing post office automatic door

Summary

Commission members said the automatic door opener at the Pleasant Street post office has been out for weeks, staff on site are inconsistent, and the commission agreed Brenda McDonough will file an electronic complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice if local remedies do not produce timely repairs.

Commission members reported Jan. 2 that an automatic door opener at the Pleasant Street post office has been inoperable for several weeks and that on‑site staffing has been intermittent, complicating local repair coordination. Brenda McDonough said postal employees and customers have reported people getting stuck in the door and that an off‑island technician has been sent but no clear status update was provided to staff.

McDonough described prior experience in which a Department of Justice complaint prompted the federal postal service to install automatic openers after a similar accessibility problem at another post office. She said she would file a complaint electronically on Monday if local communications did not yield a prompt fix; commissioners signaled they supported that approach as the federal building’s status makes local unilateral repairs difficult.

The commission agreed to follow up and to try to obtain clearer information about whether parts were ordered, who is responsible for on‑island coordination and expected timing for repair.