Patrons coming to the Wallace S. Hartsfield Post Office, 4320 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. on Tues., afternoon Aug. 31 were certainly frustrated by the signs that greeted them – “We are out of stamps,” and “We are out of money orders.”

After seeing the hand written signs on the front doors, frustrated patrons quickly pulled out of the pothole filled parking lot, heading to a nearby, better equipped post office branch. It was just one of several bumps, frequent customers of the branch say they’ve experienced at the branch named in honor of Kansas City’s most impactful leaders.

Kathy Persley, a frequent Hartsfield Post Office customer, said this was not the first time the post office didn’t have stamps and money orders available. She said it’s one of several ongoing problems at the post office.

“They don’t give the building the attention it deserves,” Persley said. She pointed to the potholes in the parking lot, the poor appearance of the outside of the building and since, the presentation area honoring Hartsfield, she says is less than the quality she feels Hartsfield deserves.

In 2008, the building was named after Hartsfield a leading civil rights leader and pastor in the community. Hartsfield served as senior pastor of Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church from 1962 to 1968 and again from 1972 until his retirement in 2007. He died last summer.

THE PROBLEM

According to the lead sales and services associate at the Hartsfield Post Office, the problem wasn’t that they didn’t have stamps or money orders, it was that they didn’t have anyone to activate them.

She said usually the manager is the only person allowed to activate stamps, but the post office has not had a manager for four months. Since they haven’t had a manager, she was transferred access to activate them, but she said she was out for a couple weeks, so no one had access.

Whatever happened, it’s an issue that wasn’t adequately addressed that’s became a problem for the community, said several of the disappointed visitors to the branch. It wouldn’t have been allowed to happen in other parts of the city, they all agreed. As of Wed., Sept. 1, stamps and money orders are once again available