ROSEMARIE FERNANDEZ : Postmaster, Santa Ana Post Office

It’s the U.S. Post Office, so that means lost letters and slow delivery, right? People like Rosemarie Fernandez, 34, are working hard to try to change that image. As the newly appointed postmaster of Santa Ana, the largest zone in Orange County, Fernandez wants to instill a “customer-is-always-right” approach to service. She is also the city’s first female postmaster, testimony to Postmaster General Marvin Runyon’s efforts to diversify the institution’s management. She spoke recently with Times correspondent Ted Johnson.

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As the first female postmaster in Santa Ana, what message will this send to employees?

A picture says a thousand words. Look at the change that the post office is making. One, I’m a woman and two, I’m fairly young. It sends a strong message to our employees that the post office is changing, we’re changing toward quality service and a quality environment for them to work. The (promotions) made now are people who have the ability to work with people. That’s what we’re all about.

How have things changed in Santa Ana since the restructuring was announced last summer?

We’re eliminating several levels of bureaucracy. We’re taking away some mid-level management positions and pushing more of the decision making down to the lowest possible level. That interaction down at the lower level is there to provide more service to the customer. The restructuring isn’t yet completed. We offered an early out in September and October, both for craft employees and for managers as an early retirement incentive to reduce the number of employees in the postal service. We have reduced staff anywhere from 35,000 to 40,000 (nationwide).

What changes do you plan to start off with in Santa Ana?

My major goal is to stabilize our work force, put our employees in the right places. I want to make sure that we have the resources to provide consistent service to our customers. I’m focusing on the times our employees are coming to work, the time of day that we are getting our mail delivered to customers and how convenient we are making things. The average customer works from 8 to 5, so, if our post offices are only open from 8 to 5, it doesn’t make it that convenient to come in and buy stamps, or take care of other mailing needs. Immediately we have expanded to closing at 5 p.m. at post offices where they were closing at 4 p.m. on some days. We are looking at having our window service open from perhaps 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in some facilities.

What about reducing long lines?

We’re only open from 8 to 5, so people come in at lunchtime. If everyone comes in at lunchtime, maybe we should staff adequately to accommodate those individuals. I have a goal that people shouldn’t wait longer than five minutes. That’s something I can’t change overnight, but it is certainly something that I will be working on.

What will you do to compete with courier services for business customers?

That’s part of the whole reorganization. It’s an attitude change at the post office. Maybe years ago we used to say to the customer: “Well, we’re the only place you can send your mail, so you have to come to us regardless of whether you like our hours or if you don’t like our service.” That’s been changing. We’re working on going to those customers and asking them what they need, rather than us telling them how it is.

You mentioned the time of day that the mail is delivered. Will that change?

Years ago, our parents used to be able to set their watch by the time the carrier got there. It was consistent pretty much within a few minutes. We’ve gotten away from that because more and more mail was generated at the post office. The country is growing, and mail volume has increased tremendously over the past 10 or 15 years. We’ve put things in place to improve that. Now we are focusing on our automated equipment. What will happen is rather than a carrier coming in and sorting mail for three or four hours each day in the office, it will be sorted for them. Our plan is to have everything fully automated by 1995. That will change how we use our office time, and make delivery more consistent.

How far is the post office from getting scanners that can read handwritten addresses?

It’s not going to happen tomorrow, but it is going to change very, very soon. In Santa Ana, it might happen in six months or eight months or a year. I can’t tell you. Computer technology is growing by leaps and bounds. Every day, something new happens. Six months ago I might be saying that we can’t read handwritten mail whereas now we can.

Is there concern about carrier safety?

We have had a lot of our vehicles broken into and mail stolen. I guess it’s a sign of the times. We are replacing a lot of our older vehicles with newer vehicles that are much safer. I also have concerns about some of the areas that we deliver to. In some areas we’ve gone from delivering at the door to putting in a centralized mailbox. The carrier delivers at a central location, rather than up to individual doors where they might put themselves in some sort of danger. I don’t want this to be misunderstood that it is an extremely dangerous community, because Santa Ana has a lot of very good neighborhoods. But we do the best we can to provide for the safety of our employees. We need to treat them well and listen to them a lot more than we have in the past.

How do you plan to improve after-hours service?

There’s a new type of machine called “postal buddy.” It’s automated, computerized equipment that will take ATM cards or cash. By pushing a series of buttons on the machine, it will weigh your package, put the postage on it and literally take the package from you. There’s one in the Monterey Park post office, the first one in this area. It saves the customer and the postal service time.

On mail rates . . .

“For us to stay competitive, we need to keep our rates where they are. . . . With the automated equipment and downsizing of the work force, we certainly have the potential of doing that.”

On Elvis stamp. . .

“It kind of touched everybody regardless of what age you were. At noon on Jan. 8, people were in post offices, talking about a common thing. We need to get back to that.”

On trimming

hours . . .

“The days of cutting back on service have changed. It is the old saying, ‘To make money you’ve got to spend money.’ We can’t cut costs at the expense of the customer.”

On changes with technology . . .

“We now hire temporary help to make sure that when we get the automated equipment, the career employees won’t suffer. The jobs might change, but the work will be there for them.”