MILWAUKEE — Local, state and federal lawmakers come together to help save several Milwaukee post offices.
Milwaukee’s mayor joined city aldermen and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore to make a plea to the Postal Service on Wednesday.
The leaders are asking the agency to reconsider a plan to close five office locations in the city. They said the five locations in danger of shutting down are in predominantly black neighborhoods. The group said closing the offices would eliminate an essential service for more than 162,000 Milwaukee residents.
“People, and African Americans who have incomes below than $30,000 a year, do not have access to computers to order services online, they really depend on the postal service to pay their bills and get stamps,” Moore said.
The five Milwaukee post offices that are in danger of closing are among 41 branches that could close around the state.
The U.S. Postal Service said it needs to close 4,000 offices around the country to help save money. The agency lost $8 billion last year.