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Residents and postal union press Mount Clemens to address employee parking and mail-suspension after carrier bite
Summary
Residents and a local letter carriers union told the Mount Clemens City Commission that employees parking all day on nearby residential streets is harming quality of life; the union also described a dog-bite incident that briefly halted delivery and asked for better animal-control coordination.
Ruthie Stevenson, a Mount Clemens resident, told the City Commission that streets near the post office have become "an all day parking lot," preventing neighbors from hosting events and creating persistent quality-of-life problems. Stevenson, who gave her address as 69 Dane Street, asked the city to involve the Postal Service and the community in finding a solution.
Clarence Blaze, who said he works at the Mount Clemens post office and is president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Mount Clemens branch, described decades of employee parking in residential neighborhoods. "We believe that the post office should assist with paying for parking," Blaze said, noting many employees currently pay between $20 and $30 a month for local parking and that the union has filed a grievance seeking relief.
Blaze also described an August incident in which a carrier was bitten and briefly hospitalized; delivery on Deal Drive was suspended and later restored for all addresses except the house involved, City Manager Shipman said. Shipman told the commission that the postmaster had met with city staff and that the Town Square lot (behind 10 and 20 South Main) has sticker parking available for $75 per quarter and pay-by-app options. "Mail delivery should have resumed Saturday," Shipman said, and he encouraged continued coordination with the Postal Service and improved animal-control response to protect carriers.
Commissioners and speakers suggested near-term and community-driven steps: expanding use of underutilized city lots, offering longer-meter options or discounted parking near the post office, and recruiting volunteers to support nonprofit programs. Matthew Miller, a River Hills Condominium board member, urged the city to publicly dispel rumors that it intends to acquire nearby private properties and proposed extended meters or discounted parking for commuters.
The commission did not take a formal vote specifically on changes to parking or animal-control policy at the meeting but asked staff to continue working with the postmaster and residents; Shipman said staff could organize further outreach or a town-hall-style meeting to allow more community input.
