Over the course of the last few months, people have begun to stop in, send emails and call The Astorian with complaints of not being able to receive mail.
In addition to being a nuisance, with the midterm elections coming up, this seemed to be a situation that could become a problem come voting time.
The Astorian talked with a handful of local businesses and even someone at Astoria City Hall, all who verified that their mail was either not being delivered or that their deliveries were spotty.
We also talked with local and county officials and reached out to the United States Postal Service — all the way to the U.S. Postmaster General’s office — for some answers.
Here’s what we found out.
You don’t have mail: Cambium Gallery and Coffee Bar
Audrey Long and Kirista Trask, owners of Cambium Gallery and Coffee Bar on Duane Street, said they started experiencing issues with the post office in mid-July.
According to Long, the business hasn’t been receiving mail regularly from the United States Postal Service, and when they do, it arrives days late and at odd hours.
“Oftentimes, it will be a week or two later (than it was supposed to arrive) and it will just show up at 7:45 at night,” Long said.
Long said she even has sent herself postcards to her business to test the mail delivery service — and has never received the postcards.
Long said she has tried to get in contact with the post office and has tried to speak with the Astoria Postmaster Elizabeth Ivey, to little avail.
“We have tried every avenue to try and find where the heck our mail is,” Long said. “Three to four times a week, I go to the post office with my missing package tracking codes (and) they just keep telling me they don’t know where it is, ‘maybe it’s out for delivery,’ ‘it’s not in our system anymore.’ Because it was marked as delivered (they remove it from their system) — even though it wasn’t delivered.”
According to Long, she said her business has only received mail four times since July — on July 27, Aug. 14, Sept. 10 and Sept. 11.
Because of this, Long has reached out for help from local leaders and city officials, including Quinn Haase, executive director of the Astoria Downtown Historic District Association, Kevin Leahy, executive director of Clatsop Community College’s Small Business Development Center, Astoria City Manager Scott Spence and David Reid, the executive director at Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce.
In addition, the group of local leaders scheduled a meeting with Postmaster Ivey on “at least” two occasions; however, Ivey never showed up, Long said. The Astorian reached out to Ivey for confirmation, but Ivey said she could not “comment on the inquiries of other people’s mail.”
According to Long, Astoria City Hall has also been having issues receiving mail. She said the issues include not receiving water bills and receiving mail not addressed to City Hall. The Astorian reached out to City Hall via phone for comment. The person who answered said yes, they have been experiencing issues receiving mail, but could not comment on the specific nature of those issues. The person who responded declined to give their name.
Long said she is frustrated.
“(The post office) can’t tell us where our mail is, when it’s going to be delivered (or) where all of our missing packages are,” Long said. “A lot of times, (the tracking system) will show that it’s out for delivery (when) there isn’t even mail being delivered anywhere on this block. … And then it gets marked as ‘undeliverable, business closed.”
According to Long, she and Trask are at their business from 7:30 in the morning until 9:30 at night, so “there’s no way” they’re closed when the post office is delivering mail.
As a business owner, Long said the issues she is experiencing with failed mail delivery, adds up to “hundreds of dollars of outstanding product that’s just gone.”
She said there are also 24 others in her building who also aren’t receiving their mail.
“I just want my mail, man,” Long said.
Late mail — late to the movies
Astoria’s Video Horizons — which sells DVDs, Blu-ray, VHS tapes, CD’s, video games and all things physical media — is another business located on Duane Street that has been experiencing issues receiving mail on time from the post office.
Coral Locke, who bought the video store in January, said she’s worried that if the issue persists, her business will begin to falter.
“What keeps me alive in the off-season — in the winter — is locals coming in to (watch) brand new movies … the winter is movie watching season, y’know?” Locke said. “This (store) is a staple in the town and we’re taking over something that’s really important to a lot of people. So, if we’re not bringing in orders and movies as consistently as the previous owner was, then we look bad in that way … we’re relying on the systems we have (referring to the post office) and they’re failing us.”
What about mail-in voting?
Ballots for the Oregon midterm elections go out on Oct. 14. With some Astoria addresses — primarily from Third and Commercial Street to 14th and Duane Street — having mail delivery issues, this has led some to wonder if they will receive their ballots on time.
Clatsop County Clerk Tracie Krevanko said that voters who have not received a ballot by Oct. 21 can contact her office to confirm the ballot was mailed to the correct address; the clerk’s office can also mail a replacement ballot.
If voters haven’t received one by Oct. 21, Krevanko said they can go to the clerk’s office to pick up a replacement ballot. She also said voters can use an “official 24-hour ballot drop box” to deposit their ballot in lieu of mailing.
“If (voters) choose to mail their ballot back, they should mail it no later than seven days before the election (Oct. 27) to ensure it is postmarked on time,” Krevanko said.
Krevanko is holding a talk at the Astoria Public Library on “Importance of Voting — Ask Questions Get Answers” at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
From Astoria to Washington, D.C.: USPS Office of the Inspector General
The Astorian attempted to speak with a postal service on several occasions about mail delivery. A phone call to the front desk of the Astoria location resulted in a hang up. Following this, The Astorian made an in-person visit to the post office to speak with the postmaster.
After a very short meeting with Ivey, which resulted in a no-comment response, Ivey directed us to speak via phone with a USPS spokesperson. Leanna Perkins, a USPS consumer affairs manager with the Idaho-Montana-Oregon District redirected The Astorian to Janella Biggs, a media contact for USPS. When asked about the mail delivery issues in Astoria, she said the inquiry will be “reviewed for a response.”
With no answers in sight and a deadline looming, The Astorian contacted the Office of Inspector General, an internal watchdog of the USPS. An email sent to the Astorian confirmed that their office launched an audit in the Oregon region on July 22.
Their office confirmed “delayed mail as an issue in this region.”
This is a continuing story. Please contact The Astorian if you are having mail delivery issues: news@dailyastorian.com.
© 2026 The Daily Astorian, Ore.. Visit www.dailyastorian.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
