BALTIMORE _ More signs of the turmoil at the U.S. Postal Service emerged this weekend after at least one of the service's iconic blue mailboxes was removed from a Baltimore street corner.
Residents in the city's Abell neighborhood reported Saturday the mailbox disappeared, although accounts varied as to when. At least one resident saw the mailbox as of late Friday afternoon. Others recalled the mailbox disappearing several days prior.
A local USPS spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.
The box's removal prompted concern from area residents amid reports from across the country that mailboxes are being removed wholesale and growing fervor over moves made by USPS in advance of the November election. Photos have surfaced online of the mailboxes being loaded into flatbed trucks by the multiples in Oregon and Massachusetts.
A USPS spokesman, however, told NBC News on Friday that plans to remove the boxes will stop until after the November election.
Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, a Democrat who represents the Abell neighborhood, called the removal of the box "pure thievery."
"They don't belong to the post office," Clarke said. "They belong to the government of the United States, and there's a process that's always been followed if you want to do anything about removing a mailbox."
In the past, the postal service has publicly reviewed demographics and usage rates for the boxes before moving to remove them, Clarke said. "It was elaborate," she added.
The mailbox removals are the latest in a series of problems that have prompted mounting outcry over the U.S. mail over the past few weeks. Widespread delays in service have become apparent, attributed to a hiring freeze and major restructuring of the system's leadership under the direction of new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
And earlier in the week, Vice first reported that mail-sorting machines are being removed or are scheduled for removal from USPS processing facilities across the country without any official explanation.
A representative for Baltimore Local 181 of the American Postal Workers Union said Friday that six mail processing machines _ four in Baltimore and two in Linthicum _ were taken out of use in early August and are being dismantled. Election mail typically runs through the machines, according to Sherry McKnight, president of the local union.
On Friday, several members of Maryland's congressional delegation wrote to U.S. Postal Service leadership complaining of "major mail delivery issues" at 14 locales in Baltimore City as well as Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County.
The delays come in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic when customers are relying on deliveries of unemployment debit cards, retirement checks and medications. The situation has also sparked concerns about the upcoming election during which many states expect to make use of mail-in ballots as uncertainty around the pandemic remains high.
President Donald Trump, a vocal critic of voting by mail, said this week that the Postal Service cannot handle the millions of vote-by-mail ballots that are expected to be sent this fall due to its inability to access emergency funding he is blocking.
Some have called for the ouster of DeJoy, a major Republican donor and ally of the GOP president, who has instituted the changes at USPS. Protesters gathered outside DeJoy's Washington D.C., home Saturday morning calling for his resignation, according to news reports.
In late July, the postal service warned 46 states that their deadlines for requesting absentee ballots may not provide "sufficient time" for ballots to be mailed to voters and returned to the elections office with the required Election Day postmark.
The Maryland elections board has since voted to move that deadline to Oct. 20, which still is one day fewer than the 15 before Election Day that the postal service says is the minimum time span.
With the angst over the postal service as a backdrop, residents in Abell worried about the local mailbox's removal. Joules Tiles, who lives near the mailbox's former location, recalled it being moved during construction on 31st Street about a week ago.
"I'm concerned about our mailbox not coming back," Tiles said. "It's a big move that was not reported to anybody in the neighborhood or on the block."
Genevieve Gessert said her daughter typically uses the mailbox once or twice a week, and last visited a week ago. When she went to mail something Friday, the box was gone, Gessert said.
Sophie Hinderberger and Michael Seguin, who live a block away from 31st and Abell, noted that they moved to the area two weeks ago and that the mailbox was gone as of at least two or three days ago.
Of the box, Clarke said she "intend(s) to get this one back" and will seek help from federal elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Kwesi Mfume, a Democrat.
