Who Has Control Over The Post Offices

Governance and Oversight

Board of Governors

As the governing body of the Mail service, the 11-member Lath of Governors has responsibilities comparable to the board of directors of a publicly held corporation. The Board includes ix Governors appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate. The other two members are the Postmaster Full general and the Deputy Postmaster General. The Governors engage the Postmaster General, who serves at the pleasure of the Lath without a specific term of office. The Governors, together with the Postmaster Full general, appoint the Deputy Postmaster General. The Chairman and Vice Chairman are elected each calendar twelvemonth, and in Feb 2009, Carolyn Lewis Gallagher was elected Chairman, and Louis J. Giuliano was elected Vice Chairman.

The Board directs and establishes policies, basic objectives, and long-range goals for the Postal Service in accord with championship 39 of the U.s.a. Code. Except for those powers specifically vested in the Governors, the Lath may consul the authority vested in information technology by statute to the Postmaster General under such terms, weather, and limitations, including the power of re-delegation, as information technology deems desirable.

The full Board held eighteen meetings during the twelvemonth. Meetings consist of open and closed sessions in accordance with the Government in the Sunshine Act. Meetings were held in Washington, DC; in Memphis, TN; and past teleconference. In addition to full Lath meetings, committee meetings were held, some not coincident to the full Board meeting dates. The Board has four committees: Audit and Finance, Compensation and Management Resources, Governance and Strategic Planning, and Government Relations and Regulatory, and has two subcommittees — Operations and Communications. The committees met to consider matters within their areas of responsibility and referred items to the full Board for consideration.

Pursuant to the Bylaws of the Board of Governors, the Lath considered and approved items reserved for determination by the Lath. Key decisions included those approving the 2009 Capital Plan (Oct); the audited 2008 financial statements and 2008 Annual Written report (November); the 2009 Integrated Financial Programme (Dec); the 2008 Comprehensive Argument on Postal Operations including the Government Functioning and Results Act reporting requirements (Dec); the final 2010 cribbing request to Congress (December). The Governors granted the Postmaster General, Chief Fiscal Officeholder, and the Treasurer the authority to restructure the debt for FY 2009 in Feb and for FY 2010 in September.

The Governors exercised their say-so under the Postal Act of 2006 when making pricing decisions. In November 2008, the Governors approved price and nomenclature changes for competitive products that were implemented in January 2009. In Feb, the Governors approved price and classification changes for market dominant products and for sure competitive products that were implemented in May 2009. The Governors approved price incentives for market dominant products in terms of a Standard Mail Volume Pricing Incentive ("Summer Sale") and a Kickoff-Class Mail Incentive Program in May and August, respectively. The Governors likewise approved contracts with individual customers for competitive products. These contracts were filed nether seal with the Postal Regulatory Commission for its review.