Postmaster position eliminated

By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Office hours at the Ramona post office have been shortened to half-days, 8 a.m. to noon, using part-time employees.

The last day of work for Kathy Matkins of Ramona was Jan. 9, after her job was terminated. She has served as postmaster there for almost 15 years and was 18 months away from retirement.

Jessica Gilbert of Ramona praised Matkins for her personal service to the residents of Ramona. She said Matkins sometimes made home deliveries or gave notification of important mail arrivals.

“Her termination was a slap in the face,” Gilbert said.

She had a difficult time understanding the process the government used to make the change. It didn’t appear to be an efficient way of doing business. She said a postal employee from Cassoday was traveling to Ramona every day to train a new temporary employee.

The shortened hours create a problem for Jane Staatz and her husband, David. They operate on cash and rely on money orders to pay bills.

David Staatz works for the City of Herington and is paid twice a month. Every payday morning, he cashes his check at a local bank. Jane goes to Herington, gets the cash from her husband, and buys groceries while there “to save gas.”

She returns to Ramona, goes to the post office to purchase the money orders, and puts the payments in the mail.

With the shortened office hours, Staatz said she is in a rush to get home and get her business done before the post office closes.

“If it ever closes completely, I guess I’ll have to figure out another way to do it,” she said.

Matkins moved from Salina in 2001 to take the postmaster job. She made her home in Ramona, purchased some rental properties, and became a part of the community.

Matkins said she offered to work part-time at a lower position, but that wasn’t allowed. The postal service offered her a postmaster job 100 miles away, but she likes living in Ramona and plans to stay.