Ron Johnston is a Sun City resident who is giving new meaning to the phrase “on call.”
Ron is not a doctor, cop, or first responder. He is a fulltime staff member of the association. He is in charge of APN neighborhood landscaping, snow removal, and…mailbox services. That mailbox part sometimes makes his life very hectic, particularly in a winter blizzard like the last two storms that have dumped 22 and 14 inches, respectively, on Sun City in early February of 2011 and 2015.
The temporary mailbox apparatus Johnston displays here operates by sliding onto the original mailbox post and clamping in place, ensuring continued mail delivery until a new box can be mounted. (Photo by Chris LaPelusa/Sun Day)
When Ron signed on to the staff in 2007, he had no idea he would receive more than 1,600 calls about broken, smashed, bent, cracked, or knocked down mailboxes in the next eight years. When the calls come, Ron, and sometimes some of his co-workers, have to work fast. Mail service can’t be interrupted for very long. Postal officials and carriers just deliver and process the mail, they don’t fix broken mailboxes.
If a postal carrier encounters a box that is not capable of holding the mail, it is held at the Post Office Annex until the box is fixed or replaced, according to a source at the Huntley Post office.
“When a homeowner calls to tell us a box has been fixed, the carrier will then resume regular delivery,” the postal worker said.
“On February second, the day after the big snow earlier this month, Chris Leuck and I had 15 calls about broken boxes already,” Johnston recalled. “Most of them had been damaged by snow piles pushed by plows, by plows hitting them, or the boxes or posts had been struck. We had most of them fixed that day or the next. It was one of my busiest days in my time here.
If not fixed promptly, damaged mailboxes from Village snow removal efforts may leave residents without mail. Enter Ron Johnston. (Photo provided)
“Sometimes, boxes rust or wear out due to weather conditions or the flag falls off or the screws holding them on the post-work loosen,” he added. “In cases like these, we rely on residents to call and tell us about the problems. We don’t recommend that they fix the boxes themselves.
“Mailboxes are located next to the street, so they are vulnerable to vehicles and snow plows, and they are often damaged by vandalism,” Johnston said. “Our busiest times are during and after major snowfalls.”
Johnston logs all calls and repair projects; his notebook binder is already full of the paperwork. He often takes pictures of damaged or knocked-over boxes. His office cubicle walls are covered with evidence of the damage done to the boxes over time.
“I’ve seen many scenes of damaged boxes, and I’m convinced the damage was caused by people driving drunk or too aggressively, or not paying attention,” he commented.
“In one neighborhood on one weekend a few years ago, thirteen boxes were heavily damaged or knocked down by vandals,” he said as he showed this reporter pictures of the carnage. “I don’t remember if we ever heard who was responsible for that. There was no snow, so it wasn’t plows and there was no evidence vehicles were involved.”
He showed another picture of a box, still attached to its post, that had been torn out of its foot-high concrete base in the ground on Easter weekend, 2012.
“That was amazing,” Johnston marveled. “The post was either dug up forcefully, or hit so hard that it was yanked right out of the ground.”
Johnston also said the maintenance staff has developed a way to replace boxes that are knocked off posts or are damaged but the posts are still viable.
“We have nine temporary boxes that can be screwed onto a post, to maintain postal service in a hurry,” Johnston said. ”We keep them in the pole barn for use whenever we need just a new box.”
Johnston was hired because he is an experienced tradesman. He lives in neighborhood 3, so he is close by when the calls come. He also is responsible for landscaping in APN neighborhoods and snow removal operations in Sun City common areas such as parking lots.
