Ortonville- After more than three years without one, the village has a Postmaster again.
Janet Saksa was installed in the position last month and is happy to be here.
‘I had heard a lot of great things about this post office and it’s been a great experience so far,? she said.
Saksa, who has an associate’s degree in business management from Macomb Community College, has worked for the United States Postal Service for the past 31 years, mostly in larger facilities. Her work for the USPS includes being a support supervisor in Southfield, a supervisor of customer service in Bloomfield Hills, and a city letter carrier in Warren. She began her postal career as a mail handler.
In March, when the Southeast Michigan District of the Postal Service merged with the Detroit District, she was displaced as a labor relations specialist. Saksa bid for the Ortonville Postmaster position because she wanted to come to a place that was ‘small, more quaint and community-oriented.?
The Troy resident and mother of two sons, Zach, 21, and Alec, 17, enjoys serving the public and has seen many changes in postal service over the years.
‘The postal business and processing have changed drastically,? said Saksa, 52.’When I started, we unloaded trucks by hand and sorted mail by hand. Now, 75 percent of mail is read by machines. It’s sad, but we have to stay up with technology and keep up with the rest of the world. It’s the only way to stay competitive.?
Mail volume has decreased ‘tremendously? over the last several years because of technology, she noted, with more people using e-mail and automatic bill pay. As a result, the postal service has to change, too. Post offices have closed, employees have been reduced, and the postal service has suffered financial losses resulting in discussion of decreased service days, such as no Saturday mail delivery.
Saksa said that although letter mail is declining, advertising and parcel and package shipments continue to grow. She is also amazed by the number of prescription medications that the post office delivers.
The Ortonville Post Office is not closing now, but Saksa said postal service operations continue to change, and there will be post office locations offered in convenience stores, card shops, and grocery stores.
‘I just hope everyone continues to use our services, because I think we do an outstanding job,? she said. ‘We can ship across the U.S. for 44 cents, we offer insurance on packages, free priority packaging… We offer a lot of services customers may not know about.?