Postmaster Honored Spokane Ranks 5th In U.S. For Speedy Delivery
The Spokane postmaster on Friday was named Spokane County’s federal employee of the year.
Under Kenneth Symbol’s leadership, Spokane ranked fifth among the nation’s 95 largest cities for speedy mail delivery, according to an independent audit earlier this year.
Ninety-two out of every 100 first-class letters mailed in the Spokane area are delivered overnight.
The annual awards, sponsored by the Federal Executive Association, come as public employees are popular targets of congressional budget cutting.
Federal budget-cutters closed the Spokane office of the Bureau of Mines in February, laying off 50 employees and reassigning 25 others to other federal agencies.
The U.S. Geological Survey office in Spokane has operated under a similar threat for two years. Even Fairchild Air Force Base, employer of more than half the federal workers in the county, faced weak threats of closure in recent years.
And while the U.S. Postal Service isn’t about to close, Symbol said it faces heavy competition from private freight carriers such as United Parcel Service and Federal Express.
“Things are a lot different in the ‘90s” than when the Postal Service operated without competition, said Symbol.
A Spokane native and Central Valley High School graduate, Symbol is a Little League baseball coach and member of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce. He was chairman of the 1995 combined federal campaign, a version of United Way for federal employees, which raised $400,000 for charitable causes.
Federal executives nominated 32 workers - out of 8,000 federal employees in 35 agencies in Spokane County - for employee of the year. In addition to Symbol, eight employees were named tops in specific categories:
Mary Ann Corman, head nurse at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was honored among managers and supervisors.
Nurse Janice Laine, also of the VA Medical Center, was selected among administrative workers.
Geologist Douglas Scott received the award for professional workers.
Zack Henry, a Postal Service labor relations specialist, was honored among technical workers.
Carla Lippert, a secretary at the VA Medical Center, was selected among clerical workers.
U.S. Air Force Capt. Tracy McWilliams, section commander for the 92nd Maintenance Squadron at Fairchild, was honored among military workers.
Joyce Johnson, a claims representative for the Social Security Administration, was given the award for community service.
Monica Martens, a bilingual claims representative for the Social Security Administration, was given the “special emphasis” award.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo