Las Vegas’ new postmaster a 34-year veteran

When he officially takes over as Las Vegas postmaster at the end of the month, Craig Colton will become the first person to serve as postmaster for all three major cities in the valley.

He officially takes office as the 14th postmaster of Las Vegas on Aug. 28, but he's been the acting postmaster since Jan. 1 when Yul Melonson became manager of the Nevada-Sierra District.

A 34-year veteran of the postal service, Coulton became postmaster of North Las Vegas in 2000 and of Henderson in 2005. Three years later, he became senior operations manager for Southern Nevada before taking the interim post in Las Vegas.

Colton, who started as a letter carrier in Garden Grove, Calif., said he has seen many changes throughout the industry .

"We're here to provide service to the customer, that's our mission," Colton said. "That is the last word in our company's name: United States Postal Service. Will we be perfect all the time? Of course not. But you know what? We will try every time, and when we're not right, we'll do everything we can to correct our mistakes."

Colton was asked about a proposal to cut Saturday delivery to cut into a multibillion-dollar deficit .

"It's strictly a proposal to try to reduce expenses," Colton said. "Right now it's only at a proposal stage, and it has a lot to go through before it gets to that point. It would have to be approved by Congress, and at this point, it's not even at the congressional floor."

In May, the Postal Regulatory Commission held a public hearing in Las Vegas to hear what customers, letter carriers and other postal employees had to say about the proposal. Most who attended said they disagreed with cutting back a delivery day.

An estimated 75,000 postal jobs could be eliminated nationwide under the plan, including 400 jobs in Nevada.