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Puro Politics is a weekly podcast hosted by columnist Gilbert Garcia, covering the drama and nuance of local government issues.
Produced by Joy-Marie Scott.
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It’s hard enough to put on a national election under the best of circumstances. But this year, we’re grappling with public health concerns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We’re also dealing with a president whose hostility to mail-in voting has resulted in cutbacks to a postal system that needs an increase — not a decrease — in resources right now, to handle the expected surge in mail-in ballots.
Louis DeJoy, President Donald Trump’s handpicked postmaster general, has made some curious moves in recent weeks: eliminating overtime for mail carriers and removing letter-sorting machines from various post office stations. In addition, Trump has been resistant to the idea of pumping emergency stimulus dollars into the postal system.
In San Antonio, at least four mail-sorting machines reportedly have been dismantled and removed from their locations.
On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio Postal Service sorting machines ‘thrown in the trash’
The U.S. Postal Service controversy was a topic of conversation on this week’s episode of the Express-News Puro Politics podcast.
“We’ve never seen a sitting president try to steal an election by screwing up the Postal Service. This is totally a new one,” said Greg Jefferson, business editor of the Express-News.
Jefferson pointed out that DeJoy is framing his moves as part of an effort to bring a businesslike mindset to a cash-strapped agency that runs inefficiently.
“But it’s not a business,” Jefferson said. “And you see this all the time. People will come in and say, ‘This essential public service is a business and it’s losing money so let’s change it.’
“You can make operations more efficient, you can stem as much of the loss as you can. But at the end of the day, if it’s still losing money, sorry, so be it. It’s going to lose money. It’s an essential public service.”
Hear this and other topics discussed on this week’s edition of Puro Politics.
Gilbert Garcia is a columnist covering the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Gilbert, become a subscriber. ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
