Lauderdale post office erects unwelcome message to neighbors -- barbed wire

Sun-Sentinel Link

By Brittany Wallman, Staff Writer, Posted January 18 2002

FORT LAUDERDALE · New construction in northwest Fort Lauderdale usually is met with praise. But not when it's a chain-link, barbed-wire fence.

The U.S. Postal Service calls it a security measure. City officials call it an insult.

When the city lured the post office away from its downtown, riverfront home several years ago to its new Northwest Seventh Avenue location, the new building was expected to serve as a tone-setter and an impetus for more redevelopment.[BF Note: So, this move was not because they needed a new and/or larger space, just because the city wanted them to move and maybe kindle some further growth? Like the Postal Service needs to waste money like this? Not that I'm surprised.

But several months ago, the post office constructed a highly visible fence and put barbed wire around the employee parking lot.

"They are showing the community a great deal of disrespect," said City Commissioner Carlton Moore, who represents the northwest. "... I really believe it's racist. I think it's absolutely despicable."

The city owns the land, no fence permits were pulled, and barbed wire that can be seen from the roadway is illegal. But so far, that hasn't meant much.

"Unfortunately we cannot honor your request to remove the fencing," Postmaster Paul Sands wrote to Moore in November, "since we are contractually obligated to protect our employees and their property."

Sands said in his letter that the fence went up because of car break-ins and subsequent union grievances post office employees filed because of security concerns.

But Fort Lauderdale Police Department records show no reports of burglaries, robberies or thefts all of last year or the year before at the post office. In 1999, there were four vehicle burglaries.[BF Note: union grievances take like forever to get resolved and not all crimes are reported to the local police. If insurance isn't going to cover it, making a police report is pointless, and will raise your rates unnecessarily.]

And the post office leaves the gate to the fenced lot open.

"It certainly does not do anything to decrease any kind of crime," Moore said.

Postal officials decline any further comment.

"I really don't have anything further to add. Mr. Sands' letter speaks for itself," said Enola Rice, postal spokeswoman for the region.

Moore said security issues can be solved in other ways -- with cameras, for example. He noted that there was no fence or barbed wire around the former post office site on Southwest Second Avenue, where homelessness has long been a problem.

The Sylvia H. Alridge Postal Facility on Northwest Seventh Avenue/Avenue of the Arts was taken as a hopeful sign of redevelopment when it opened just a jog away from Sistrunk Boulevard, along a thoroughfare into downtown.

The area is a cluster site for new development in a quadrant that only rarely sees new construction. A new city fire headquarters is under way to the south, a grocery store development is planned to the north. A relatively new clinic stands to the south, and a gated housing complex is to the east.

Mayor Jim Naugle blamed the city, saying he is "ashamed" that city officials "didn't go over there and rip that thing down and threaten arrest for doing work without a permit."

Though the fence apparently violates city codes, the federal government said it isn't bound by the city's rules.

"They claim because they're the federal government, they're pre-empted from having to get building permits," said Assistant City Manager Pete Witschen. "I don't believe that's correct as I sit here. ... If there are security needs that need to be taken care of, there's a different way to do it than what they put up there. The current situation cannot remain."

Witschen said discussions are ongoing, as is a legal review.

Brittany Wallman can be reached at bwallman@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4541.

Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

[BF: Currently, our facility has Postal Police manning all entrances. I suspect that this facility does, too. We also have barbed wire around the perimeter, and rent-a-guards patrolling the employee lot. The lighting isn't the best, some lights are burned out and replacement is slow. They are installing cameras all over the lot, but not many employees think this is for our safety but to monitor employees. The entrances and exists are being altered to allow for guard houses. This construction, if done anywhere else would take a couple weeks, has been on-going for months, almost a year.]

Curious isn't it? We work for the federal government as career employees, are part of the FERS, that's Federal Employee Retirement System] but are not included in the Presidential mandate for a federal holiday on Christmas Eve 2001 that was done for ALL federal employees?

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

Answers

Oh, my, my!

We have a fence problem at our PO, too.

About 18 months ago, the PO sealed off the front entrance to the employee parking lot with a chain link fence. Before, it had been open to vehicle and foot traffic, and several employees complained of near accidents when customers drove through. There was also the issue of employee parking.

This is somewhat of an upscale area, and the fence looks out of place, which has drawn the ire of the Secret Lawn Police, as well as many of their friends. In spite of their money and influence, the fence remains.

My complaint is that the fence was put up, seemingly overnight, without any throught as to what it would do to the traffic patterns. As it stands now, customers pulling into the parking lot might wait on the busy street for a spot, blocking traffic. During rush hour, this blocking can add ten minutes to getting through this area. I have spoken with the neighborhood commissioners at length about this issue because the long lines of cars make it more difficult for me to get in and out of my driveway.

But the fence remains. I expect it will remain as long as that substation is open.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

Since it's an employee parking lot, I don't see how it would affect traffic. Sounds like the customer parking lot has issues.

Considering the threat to federal buildings these days, I think we can all expect more barbed wire around post offices and other agencies.

This is one case where the secret lawn police will lose. LOL

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

I wasn't clear enough in my description. In the beginning, there were two driveways. Customers could turn into the employee lot, and go from there to the customer lot (or park there!) or go to the next driveway directly to the lot at the front of the building. As it is now, they can only turn into the customer lot.

Anyway, you're right! The Secret Lawn Police have lost this battle, and they're boiling mad, even the ones in FL. They've been on a seemingly non-stop letter writing campaign for the last 18-months to the editors of various papers around town. The editors are not running the letters, for the most part.

I've heard some rumors about this PO getting moved down the street, so I'll see if that's the case.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

Our local has had a chainlink fence topped with barbed wire ever since we moved here. Sensible.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 2002

kinda funny, they're mad at the post office, so they increase the business of the post office by writing letters. heh heh

-- Anonymous, January 19, 2002

I never said they were the brightest bulbs on the string. (:

Will I be that silly when I'm an old fart?

-- Anonymous, January 19, 2002

Yes.

-- Anonymous, January 19, 2002