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Wednesday, November 1, 2000
Mail delivery in Carmel - what a concept
71-year-old retiree battles against California town that revels in its quirky quaintness
Associated Press
CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. - Some days, Joe Steinfeld is awake by 3 a.m. in his cluttered house, handwriting letters that he will fax to officials in Washington. He has called members of Congress, picketed alone in the nation's capital, complained at town meetings and made a failed run for City Council.
His quest? To end a 97-year-old tradition and open up Carmel-By-The-Sea to what nearly all Americans expect - home mail delivery.
His persistent efforts make this proudly crotchety town recoil at the prospect of losing one of its most revered social occasions - the daily ritual of going to the post office for the mail.
Steinfeld, 71, a retired antiques dealer recovering from cancer, said this is an important civil rights fight for elderly and disabled people who have trouble getting to the post office.
If he has to, he said, he'll sue the city 115 miles south of San Francisco.
Carmel is a town that clings fiercely to its quaint idiosyncrasies, a place where you have to get a permit to wear high-heeled shoes, no traffic lights or street lamps, no fast-food joints - and no mailboxes or numbered addresses.
Houses have names like "Green Door Cottage," "Sunburst" and "The Gazebo," because that's the way it's always been.
Steinfeld said he was amazed when he and his wife moved here last year from down the coast and found there was no home mail delivery. In August, the Postal Service said it could begin home delivery if mailboxes and a numbering system were in place.
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