Watch CBS News

Rep. Bobby Rush Hosts Townhall After CBS 2 Reports On Chicagoans Getting Mail Late, Or Not At All

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Delayed mail service and sometimes even no service – CBS 2 has been on the case for months in neighborhoods across the city.

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Illinois) told CBS 2's Tara Molina he is working to do something about it after seeing our reports exposing the widespread problem.

"It's just ridiculous," said Barbara Jackson.

Barbara Jackson has had enough.

"It took us three weeks to get our medication through the mail service," she said.

Jackson said she and her neighbors dealing with constant mail issues for months.

"If I get mail once a week, I'm pleased," said Valeria Smith, "and then when I get it, it's often not all the mail I'm supposed to get."

It so happened that a letter carrier showed up while Molina was interviewing Jackson and Smith. They both said it was the first time they had received mail in a week.

It's safe to say they're not alone. Our reporting over the past few weeks exposing issues in USPS service across the city.

They are issues that we learned the man who represents some of those people is having himself.

"I personally have not received mail," said Rep. Rush.

Rush hasn't had mail dropped off for almost a week now.

"We want it solved and we want it solved immediately," he said.

Rush said our stories, and the issues we've exposed, inspired a townhall meeting Tuesday night that he hosted over the phone to hear complaints and talk about what needs to change.

"Thank you, CBS 2," Rep. Rush said. "Your news reports have really given a voice to my constituents."

Rush said he has already heard from hundreds of constituents, like Jackson, who are having issues.

"I'm really curious to see where it goes," Jackson said.

Rush said he won't let this one go.

"We will be demanding change," he said.

USPS representatives were invited to participate in the townhall meeting earlier Tuesday and declined, according to Rep. Rush.

A spokesman for Chicago's USPS district office still denies there are any issues with mail delivery in the city right now:

"Mail delivery is ongoing today from the areas you mentioned. We encourage customers that have a concern with their mail delivery, questions about specific pieces of mail, and or other service issues to contact their local Postal station or our Consumer Affairs office at 312-983-8403.

"The Chicago District has a dedicated workforce that services nearly 1.3 million delivery points daily. We gladly work to address any specific issue reported from the community. As any service organization, one customer complaint is one too many. We are flexing our available resources to match the workload created by the impacts of the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We appreciate the patience of our customers and the efforts of employees as conditions change on a day-to-day basis."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.