U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta and local leaders gathered Wednesday at the Brookdale Lodge to oppose a proposed permanent closure of the Brookdale Post Office and urge residents to submit feedback before the U.S. Postal Service’s comment period ends Oct. 11.
“For nearly two years, the people of Brookdale have waited in good faith while USPS sat on its hands, missed deadlines, and failed to provide a reliable timeline for restoring service,” Panetta said. “Now, instead of finding a new location or restoring local service, USPS is studying whether to permanently close the Brookdale Post Office. We are standing shoulder to shoulder to call for USPS to halt the study and restore postal services for the Brookdale community.”
Panetta was joined by Santa Cruz County District 5 Supervisor Monica Martinez, Brookdale Lodge owner Jason Patel and community members at the Oct. 7 gathering.
“It is unfair for USPS to further burden Brookdale residents, who have already had to assume additional costs in the aftermath of the CZU Lightning Fire Complex, by asking them to travel out of town to access their mail during work hours,” Martinez said. “If they won’t reestablish a post office, USPS should offer home delivery in Brookdale, like it does in neighboring towns.”
Postal service in Brookdale has been suspended since a fire damaged the community’s contract post office in December 2024. The Postal Service launched a discontinuance feasibility study in September but has not proposed an alternative location or expanded local service, according to Panetta’s office.
Brookdale residents do not receive home mail delivery and have historically relied on post office boxes and retail services at the local facility. Since the fire, residents have traveled to neighboring communities, including Boulder Creek and Ben Lomond, for mail and other postal services.
At Wednesday’s gathering, Panetta and local leaders encouraged residents to complete questionnaires and submit comments before the Oct. 11 deadline.
“We, the residents of Brookdale, respectfully request the restoration of a permanent U.S. Post Office in the community of Brookdale, Zip Code 95007,” said Brookdale resident Sally Lussier.
Panetta sent a Sept. 30 letter to U.S. Postmaster General David Steiner calling for the study to be halted. He also asked the Postal Service to investigate an alternative permanent location in Brookdale, explore home delivery and, until that is available, provide cluster box units or another mail pickup option.
“Since the Brookdale Post Office burned down, the people of that community have waited for nearly two years in good faith while the USPS sat on its hands saying that they would reopen the facility,” said Panetta in a news release Oct. 2. “Then, out of the blue, the USPS made the haphazard decision to study whether it should shut down the post office without providing any postal service in Brookdale. Such an indiscriminate and arbitrary decision to shut down a local post office, without any plan to open up the existing one or attempt to provide postal services to existing Brookdale customers, is unreasonable, and we expect more out of our Postal Service. That is why I wrote this letter calling on the USPS to stop the study and start figuring out how it can provide postal services to the people of Brookdale.”
Panetta has previously pressed the Postal Service to restore service in Brookdale, including in a February letter urging the agency to repair and reopen the facility and provide temporary service in the interim. After the agency missed a May 1 reopening date, he asked the USPS Office of Inspector General to review the agency’s handling of the closure, including its communication, decision-making and interim service options.
The latest effort comes as the Postal Service considers whether to permanently discontinue the Brookdale location.
“Restoring dependable postal operations is vital for my constituents, and these steps will help ensure the residents of Brookdale can rely on the United States Postal Service for years to come,” Panetta wrote in his letter to Steiner.
