Postal Service to Help Oak Park Sort Out ZIP Woes

The U.S. Postal Service is preparing to send a form letter to the 5,687 households and businesses in Oak Park to help them in persuading insurance companies, mail-order firms and others that they do indeed reside in Ventura County.

The mass mailing was announced by Rich Sybert, a Republican congressional candidate who has sent a flurry of letters supporting Oak Park’s quest for its own ZIP code.

The tiny community near Thousand Oaks now shares a ZIP code with Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County, which can result in higher insurance rates and sales taxes than those paid by Ventura County residents.

“Mr. Sybert, citing difficulties with emergency services, insurance premiums and tax rates for Oak Park residents, requests that the Postal Service sponsor an informational mailing of a form letter that residents could use when advising their creditors of their location,” Postmaster General Marvin Runyon wrote in a letter to Congress this week.

“Van Nuys District Manager Richard Ordonez has agreed to sponsor such a mailing in order to assist postal customers who have experienced billing problems related to their address,” Runyon wrote.

“Additionally, Mr. Ordonez’s office will be pleased to provide documentation on request to specific residents who have been incorrectly billed,” he wrote.

Oak Park Councilman Douglas Hewitson applauded the decision as a good first step toward resolving a problem that has dogged the community for 30 years. “The Postal Service is acknowledging that there is a problem here,” he said. “That’s the first time.”

Hewitson also credited Sybert for vigorously pursuing the matter. “He got better results than any of us did.”

In addition to writing Postal Service officials, Sybert in November enlisted the help of a Republican congressman who is chairman of a House subcommittee that oversees the Postal Service. It was that chairman who received the letter this week from the postmaster general, announcing the upcoming mass mailing to Oak Park residents and businesses.

Sybert is running against Democrat Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks for the 24th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills).

Sybert’s congressional campaign characterized the decision as “a direct response to Sybert’s persistent efforts” and as “a major success over the Washington bureaucracy before he is even in office.”

But Postal Service spokeswoman Terri Bouffiou said she is not sure that Sybert deserves all the credit. “He’s not the only person who has been raising the issue,” she said.

The idea of an informational letter came up at Oak Park’s Municipal Advisory Council meeting in December, she said, and postal workers have been working on the letter’s wording with Beilenson aides.

“The MAC and Tony Beilenson’s office has been working on this issue for a long time,” she said. “We want to recognize everyone’s efforts.”

The Postal Service, she said, wants to accommodate Oak Park residents, but cannot justify the expense of creating a separate ZIP code for the community.

“ZIP codes are for the efficient processing of mail,” she said. “It is not a political issue. . . . We cannot let everybody have the ZIP code that they want.”