Days before the U.S. Postal Service announced record-setting losses in September, the nation’s top postal regulator traveled to Scotland for meetings with European envelope manufacturers.
A few weeks later, Postal Regulatory Commission Chairman Ruth Y. Goldway visited Portugal, Switzerland and China to meet with international postal regulators.
(Mark Wilson/GETTY IMAGES) - Postal Regulatory Commission Chairman Ruth Goldway.
Goldway has incurred at least $70,600 in official domestic and international travel expenses during her tenure, outpacing her predecessor, according to commission travel records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Although the commission’s roughly $14.3 million budget is set by Congress and not directly tied to the Postal Service, the frequency and expense of Goldway’s travel is coming under scrutiny from lawmakers who track USPS and its financial woes.
Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) said he plans to inquire further.
“A significant increase in the amount of travel by the commission chair — or any member of the commission — raises legitimate questions,” Carper’s spokeswoman, Emily Spain, said. “This is a time when the leadership of the Congress, the Postal Service and the Commission should be focused like a laser on the Postal Service’s financial problems.”
Spain said that Carper aides were aware of Goldway’s travel and that media inquiries about the issue have intensified Carper’s interest.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who tracks postal issues, called Goldway’s travel schedule troubling. “When organizations are struggling, good leaders often make a pointed effort of curbing their own expenses as an example,” he said.
Goldway and the PRC office said her travel has been frugal and in the service of the commission.
She receives numerous invitations to international conferences “and attends only those that are beneficial to the Commission and the Postal Service in terms of sharing information about activities in the U.S.,” the PRC said in a statement. The chairman also represents the U.S. government at global conferences when requested by the Commerce and State departments, the commission said.
“I must admit I like traveling, but I don’t see it as a perk of the job, I see it as an obligation,” Goldway said. “Our job at the PRC is to represent the interests of all of the stakeholders. In order to do that, we really need to make an effort to get out of the city now and then.”
USPS said it lost $5.1 billion in fiscal 2011. Passage of pending legislation would shore up USPS finances and permit the end of Saturday delivery and the closure of thousands of post offices and processing facilities. The bills also would require the PRC to accelerate its work, because some lawmakers are concerned it moves too slowly to issue nonbinding advisory opinions on postal operations and rulings on contested post office closings.
The PRC is an independent five-member regulatory commission overseeing the Postal Service. It includes two Democrats, Goldway and Vice Chairman Nanci E. Langley. Republican commissioners are Mark Acton and Robert G. Taub. President Obama nominated Republican Tony Hammond in December to fill the fifth seat.
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