New postmaster general promises to get back to basics

Barely an hour into his tenure as the 72nd postmaster general, John Potter Monday pledged to recommit the agency to its core mission and products. For several years, the Postal Service has been accused of dabbling in areas unrelated to its mission, such as smart cards, calling cards and sales of tee-shirts and ties. "We are going to be all about the core," Potter said during a roundtable session with reporters. The agency has heard its customers' concerns and plans to address them, he said. But Potter was quick to say that the agency will not "put its head in the sand and hide when it comes to migrating some activities to the Web." For the most part though, the agency has to do a better job of making investments where it will receive the most return on the dollar, Potter said. That includes continued attention to automation in mail processing plants. Potter is taking over an agency that stands to lose nearly $3 billion this year. Critics have attacked the agency for having a bloated bureaucracy, for not achieving significant gains in productivity and for doing a poor job of controlling costs. Potter deflected some of that criticism, saying the agency has cut $2 billion since 1999 and has improved productivity by about 4 percent. Still, he acknowledged that more can be done. Potter also said that many of the agency's financial woes are attributable to the current economic slowdown and rising fuel costs. Every penny increase in gas costs the agency $5.5 million. In addition, cost of living increases for employees--at a time when revenue has remained relatively flat--have hurt the bottom line, Potter said. Larger mailer organizations would like to see the agency reduce the size of its 780,000-plus workforce. Potter offered no immediate plans to embark on a wholesale downsizing. Agency insiders, however, speculated that significant changes are coming. Potter said he wants to sit down with all stakeholders to find a consensus on legislative reform. "I don't want to make reform a political issue," he said.