I finally have a friend in high places. Last week, President Barack Obama announced that he is appointing Ruth Goldway, who has served on the Postal Regulatory Commission since 1998, to be its chair. And I have to say that it’s a good appointment. Ruth, known years ago as the mayor of the People’s Republic of Santa Monica, has been a voice for reform on the commission. She is a proponent of voting by mail--the Oregon system that has led to some of the highest turnout rates in the country; she got the post office to adopt the “forever stamp”--the first class stamp that you can use regardless of postal rate changes (no more purchases of one-cent stamps); and most recently she called for the government to include the conversion of 219,000 postal delivery vehicles to electric power in the stimulus or budget bills. She also advocated making post offices and mail sorting centers hubs for recharging electric vehicles.
--John B. Judis