Sewickley Herald

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The Sewickley
Herald
Wednesday, February 6, 1991
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Voting districts are consolidated in two borougiis
Leetsdale will drop one polling place; Sewickley still votes at St. Stephen's
By Mike May
Herald editor
Two local municipalities will each lose a voting ^strict as a restdt of Allegheny County Department of Election redistricting.
Come the May primary, Leetsdale voters, in both districts will be voting at Quaker Valley Senior High School. The other polling place, Leetsdale Borough Building, has been eliminated.
In Sewickley, the two districts in Ward III have been consolidated. The two districts in Ward II y^ill rejnain. Ward I is one district.,. .	,	-
However,, Sewickley voters have had Only one polling place, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, which will continue to serve as the center for borough elections.
Marie Kelly, Allegheny County Department of Elections project manager for redistricting, said that voters will begin receiving new voter
registration cards this week.
Ms. Kelly explained that the county began the redistricting project in 1987 to comply with a court order from Judge Michael O'Malley, of Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. He issued the order so that the county would comply with the Pennsylvania Elections Code.
Voting districts are supposed to comtains 600-800 persons and have boundaries that follow definite physical features such as streets, Ms. Kelly said.
She said that it has been 60 years since the last redistricting, during which time there has been, major population shifts. “There was a place in the Mon Valley where a district had 30 voters and in South Fayette where there were 2,400,” Ms. Kelly said.
Voter-registration information from 1986 was used to the redistricting. Therefore, Ms. Kelly said it’s possible that there could be “adjustments in the future.”
New Yasilt's IstyOMer
THE STORK was late in delivering the first baby in Quaker Valley this year. Biit better late thail QeviCF for little Ghristin Lea Mercer, who arrived at 6:31 p.m. on Jan. 28,1991, weighing in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces. Parents are Paul G. and Becky Mercer, of 923 Nevin Ave., Sewickley, both of whom, like Ghristin, were born at Sewickley Valley Hospital. Maternal grandparents are the Rev. and Mrs. Doniald Wilson of Sewickley. Paternal grandparents are Mr. and Mr$. Paul C. Mercer .of Leetsdale. Ghristin joins a brother, Daniel Levi Mercer, 5.
Inside
2	Bell Acres firemen receive honors
3	Local executives move on at Trinity
15	QV sports alumni unite at basketball	game
Higlier postal rates don't get stamp of approval
Despite public sentiment, Sewickley officials say rates inadequate
By Nicole E. Peffer
staff writer
On Sunday the cost to send a letter jumped from 25 cents to 29 cents, a 4-ceiit increase bemoaned by the U.S. Postal Service and customers alike.
At the Sewickley Post Office, as in post offices across the nation, that will translate into better service, but possibly the loss of postal staff, ipredicts William Riley, supervisor of post operation in Sewickley,
According to Sewickley Postmaster Bob Cooper, 8di percent of the postal service budget covers labor costs. With the introduction of autoniation ami bar co^ng, staff needs will decline. If the l995 goal of 100 percent automation is achieved, mailmai and those picking up from mailboxes Will be the only posfal-service workers to actually han-dlf! the mail.
“The new automation process saves untold maiiwuifs,’* Riley said. The process is more efficient, decreasing the cost of labor.
“llie service can’t do anything but improve with autoniation,” Riley said. The new automation pro-
cess can sort 12 pieces of mail per second, or 75,000 per hour, compared to the 2,500 pieces of mail sort^ by human hands.
With the introduction of automation, Riley feels, “The postal service will undergo the most extensive internal changes in 200 years of existence,” Though people might be relieved that the increase Was not as high as originally recommended (30 cents for first-class mail), the postal service worries about breaking even.
William Riley, supervisor of postal operations at Sewickley Post Office, said he feels the rate increases are inadequate,
“The general public needs to realize the postal service is a self-supporting entity,” he said. Contrary to popular belief, operations are not funded by taxes provided by the public.
The postal service is governed by a postal rates commission and a board of governors that determine and regulate certain rates to keep the postal service afloat Postage rates are mandated by Congress so the postal service can operate without making a profit Or suffering losses,
......	— ---------—^Continued on page 10
SEWICKLEY BRASS: Postmaster Bob Cooper, seated, with William Ril^y, supervisor of postal operations.
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