New postmaster in El Dorado

There’s a new Postmaster in the town of El Dorado and he’s out to save you money. Ward M. Greene, 44, will be sworn in as Postmaster of the El Dorado Post Office on Feb. 8.

“My job is to see that we are doing as well as we can, figure out why we aren’t doing our best in a particular area and then fix the problem,” said Greene. ” We want to keep our service up and the costs down. It’s a challenge, but it’s fun.”

The El Dorado Post Office has been very successful, according to Post Office performance indicators, with back-to-back weeks as a No. 1 performer in several areas including retail revenue. Greene and his hard-working crew aim to keep it that way.

Greene, an El Dorado resident, loves the close-knit atmosphere of the small community.

“It’s an amazing sensation to recognize people on the street and have them recognize you — what can beat that?” said Greene. “People look out for each other here, neighbors get together and celebrate things.”

He grew up in a much larger community in Livermore and came to Sacramento to attend California State University, Sacramento in 1990. “While in college, I took the postal exam as a back-up plan and then, when I graduated, I accepted a job as a letter carrier with the Post Office,” said Greene. “I love the outdoors and the opportunity to be outside all the time while working sounded good to me.”

Greene was a letter carrier for the Citrus Heights Post Office for more than 10 years before a family history of skin cancer made him rethink his career goals. “I started to take a look at other opportunities and then I became a supervisor in the Citrus Heights office.”

After a year, he became a supervisor at the Placerville Post Office and went from there to his current position as Postmaster for El Dorado.

“It’s quite a change from being a letter carrier and when those spring days come along, I still wish I was outside delivering mail, ” said Greene, “but I still work alongside the clerks at the window and I enjoy that direct contact with our customers. My neighbors are customers and we have a lot of strong community support for our Post Office. That’s what makes our progress possible.”

In addition to his postmaster duties, Greene is a part-time rancher and “goat wrangler,” a member of the Fire Safety Council for Logtown and Mr. Mom to his two daughters.

“My wife works for the city of Fremont, so during the week I try to stay on top of homework and have dinner ready,” said Greene.

But Greene’s day job is trying to educate his customers about the products and services the Post Office provides.

“The new hot thing is Every Door Direct Mail,” said Greene. “People don’t need a bulk mail permit to get the word out about their business. They can order postcards, flyers, mailers to advertise their business, scale the costs according to what they need and pay for it with a credit card right over the counter. This lets customers save money and grow their business.”

Package service is another growth area of service. “There’s a lot of demand for this. People can cut overhead by working from home and we will pick up and deliver packages for them,” said Greene. Customers can order free Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes, calculate the mailing costs, print a label with postage from their computer using their own printer, and schedule a package pickup, all online without leaving their home office.

He’s looking to get involved in a service organization that will tie in with what the Post Office can offer. “I’m also planning to talk to the merchant’s association for El Dorado,” said Greene. “I want the input of our business community as to how we can help and what they need. My mission is to get the word out about how the Post Office can help our customers.”

Contact Wendy Schultz at 530-344-5069 or wschultz@mtdemocrat.net. Follow @WSchultzMtDemo.

Wendy Schultz

Wendy Schultz has been a columnist for the Mountain Democrat since 2002 and a staff writer since 2005. She covers Placerville city events and City Council meetings, writes feature stories and reports on things of interest in El Dorado County.

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