Joint Statement from U.S. Representative Jill N. Tokuda and Councilmember Tamara Paltin on the Lahaina Downtown Post Office

Hawaiʻi - Today, U.S. Representative Jill N. Tokuda (HI-02) and Maui County Councilmember Tamara Paltin released the following joint statement opposing the proposed permanent closure of the Lahaina Downtown Post Office.

"To permanently close the Lahaina Downtown Post Office is yet another slap in the face to a community that has already endured far too much. Lahaina has gone without this downtown post office since the August 2023 wildfires.

Now, as families and small businesses rebuild, USPS wants to eliminate another essential public service. The people of Lahaina deserve better.

A 30-minute online meeting held during the workday, with only a few days' notice, does not constitute meaningful community engagement. It excludes working families, kūpuna, and residents without reliable internet access, and falls far short of the transparency and public participation this decision demands. The people of Lahaina deserve a genuine opportunity to be heard, not a half-hearted process designed to check a box.

And it comes as residents moving back into rebuilt homes are facing another loss: direct home mail delivery. Rebuilt neighborhoods are not new subdivisions. They are restored communities, and residents deserve the same level of service they had before the disaster.

USPS should be working with Lahaina to restore service, not finding new ways to take it away. We are demanding a halt to this closure plan, genuine in-person engagement with the community, home delivery for returning residents, and a serious effort to restore the downtown post office. Lahaina has been through enough. Our community deserves more than a pitiful excuse for engagement. It deserves a Postal Service that shows up, listens, and helps rebuild Lahaina, not one that abandons it."

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