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Friday, Mar 29th

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You are here: Community Features Gallup welcomes new postmaster

Gallup welcomes new postmaster

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“I’m grateful to work for the Postal Service. I’m excited to work in Gallup. Customer service is my No. 1 priority so I’m excited to get started,” said Dona Roberts, newly sworn in Post Master for the United States Postal Service in Gallup.

Roberts has been the interim post master in Gallup since September 2014 but was officially sworn in May 22.

Roberts was sworn in by Suzy Yarbro, manager of postal operations for the Arizona district, which includes Gallup.

“I’m very pleased. I’ve worked with her for about 3 years and she’s done a great job,” Yarbo said. “She is an asset to my area.”

Roberts is focusing on increasing the quality of customer service in her operations. Her goals are to get customers their mail on time, get the mail in the right box, streamline the lobby lines and have the right employees in the right places at the right times all in an effort to make the system work more efficiently and effectively.

Since realigning routes, Roberts is more comfortable with the home and business delivery systems. Roberts will be responsible for the management and operation of 26 postal employees in Gallup and five Contract Postal Units. CPU’s are the mini-post offices like the ones inside Lowe’s and T & R Market.

Roberts was proud to have her mother, daughter and two grandchildren on hand to support her while taking her oath. Other postmasters from Bernalillo, Peralta and Window Rock were in attendance as well. The postal staff gave Roberts a warm welcome by hosting a pot luck for her, Gallup style. It was a full table with enchiladas, posole and ceviche.

Linda Alonzo, a 20-year employee of the postal service and supervisor of customer services, said of Roberts: “She is dedicated to making a good working relationship with her employees.”

They have added a route that will create at least one more full time career position with the area postal service. This will give all customers a constant mail carrier so they will receive their mail at a regular time and it will give them a chance to get to know their carrier.

During the swearing in ceremony, there was a loud chirping in the air. A large shipment of chicks was waiting to be loaded and delivered. Alonzo said they get all kinds of products to deliver. Not long ago she found boxes of bees stashed under her desk awaiting delivery.  But, Alonzo says the hardest animals to deal with are the roosters because they get so loud in the early mornings.

Roberts comes to Gallup by way of Lehigh Acres, FL. But she was born and raised in Grants, so she is familiar with a rural based community.  One of the programs she hopes to promote is that of “Move to Competition.”

This program is built for people who do not have access to UPS or FEDEX home delivery service. Rural customers can sign up for the service with the USPS here in Gallup. The only requirement is that they have a post office box. With this program, the post office will receive FEDEX and UPS shipments for their customers and will deliver to them through their post office boxes.

“Every day I am blessed to work for the post office,” Roberts said.  “I’m up for the challenge,”