Steve jackson Photo
New postmaster for four South Shore towns based at Sun City Center since mid-January is Alonzo Wiggins, left, with Wadi Barrios, one of Wiggins’ management staff at SCC.

Wiggins new postmaster now in charge of Sun City Center, Apollo Beach, Ruskin, Sun City

By STEVE JACKSON

The great majority of people, actually customers, in the four towns which he has served since nearly the first of the year, do not know his name. They probably do not even know he is the person responsible for supervising 168 full-time and part-time employees who handle their mail in the five post offices seven days a week. Very few of his clients even realize that since mid-January this well-travelled Florida resident has been “officer in charge” or temporary US Postmaster at Sun City Center, Sun City, Ruskin, and the pair of post offices at Apollo Beach.

Let me introduce you to Alonzo “Al” Wiggins. The 49 year-old was appointed to his new job with the USPS Jan. 18, 2021, as head of the five USPS facilities in the South Shore. As if that is not enough responsibility and work for one person, Wiggins also continues to serve and to work as the back-up postmaster for Bartow and Alturas in Polk County, his full time assignment just before being tapped to head up the five post offices in the South Shore of Hillsborough County. As if all that is not enough, Wiggins is also the back-up postmaster for Wimauma since that facility is so close to his current full-time base at Sun City Center. With the top two administrative people that operate that Wimauma post office out for various reasons, it fell upon Wiggins to pick up the slack and work out of that small Wimauma US Post Office on Saturday, June 26.

The point, or rather the points are that Wiggins is a busy top-level and a super-dependable employee of the USPS, not only as a postmaster but as a modest and humble executive employee who carries out his multi-role in his USPS jobs so as to make his employees and all his customers “my top priority.” It is a tough, demanding job. The USPS puts a ton of work on Wiggins, and Wiggins remains true to his commitment to be postmaster, at times, of as many as six separate post offices.

The USPS, as well as the general public, has a special person, a special employee in Wiggins. A former US Marine with service in Iraq and a person who started from the ground up with the US Post Office, Wiggins has made it this far by tending to tough jobs and performing in commendable fashion. Receiving promotions with the USPS every two years has made it a rapid professional pace for Wiggins.

In his own words, Wiggins has “provided loyal and dedicated service to the US Postal Service since 1993 while focusing on providing excellent customer service throughout my career. After serving eight years in the US Marine Corp, I have made it my USPS mission to continue making a difference throughout the communities and organizations by developing other leaders and encouraging them to serve as advocates and support staff for those in need.”

Mobile and ambitious throughout his professional life, Wiggins has achieved an MBA (Masters of Business Administration) from both University of Phoenix and University of Florida. He also attended University of South Florida and Polk State College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Criminology. Wiggins, after living in Tallahassee as a toddler, moved with his family to Winter Haven where he completed high school. Years later, after his international military career and launching his USPS career, Wiggins calls Lakeland home.

Wiggins explains,“Throughout my postal career, I have sought upward mobility from the position of a city carrier in Lakeland to becoming a supervisor, station manager and now a postmaster. I have held multiple positions in various departments, such as manager of safety, field financial specialist, I.T. and subject manner expert, which have prepared me for success.

“ I consider myself to be very modest and humble,” says Wigging unabashedly. “I have chosen to make my employees and customers my top priority. Everyday presents a new challenge that I look forward to overcoming.”

Always mindful of changes—including non-changes—- in the gigantic USPS, such as the upcoming increase in a regular stamp from .55 to .58 come mid-August and the proposal to keep the current and rented Ruskin post office where it is and not build a new one, Wiggins provides leadership and consistent action as much as possible in such an enormous, bureaucratic operation as the government-delivery service. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is a large business enterprise operated by the federal government. It has more than 600,000 employees and more than $70 billion in annual revenues.

“Apollo Beach Carrier Annex is a new facility (on Hwy. 41 near Big Bend Road), which, unlike the other post office in Apollo Beach, does not have a retail window. Customers from both Ruskin and Apollo Beach have to come to the Sun City Center PO to conduct postal business, including picking up mail and addressing service issues. This sometimes frustrates customers and creates a potential inconvenience that I would like to change,” said Wiggins.

“ I am in the process of hiring clerks and coordinating training for these new employees, so that I can improve the quality of service and reduce the wait time in line here in Sun City Center. Once the staffing is in place and properly trained, I will implement a pick up/caller service at the Apollo Beach facility between the hours of 10am-2pm Monday through Saturday.” Wiggins continued.

“Our customers deserve to have their concerns heard and addressed by their local post office, and I plan on implementing this particular plan to better serve the communities,” Wiggins explained. These plans are expected to take place within 60 to 90 days,” explained Wiggins.

“My USPS management staff —Vincent Seebach, acting station manager/ Roody Cooke, supervisor customer service/ Wadi Barrios, supervisor customer service/ Melinda Torres, supervisor customer service/ Danny Taylor, supervisor customer service— are all ready to serve the Sun City Center, Ruskin, Sun City and Apollo Beach communities,” emphasized Wiggins in concluding remarks.

Wiggins and all his full time and part time employees have a sense of pride that the USPO exudes in the US and globally. To them, US mail service is a big part of the fundamental infrastructure of the United States. The USPS is a basic connection between all the people in the US and their institutions. Binding the US nation is the mandate, as well as the job, of the USPS.

The US Postal Service delivers more mail than any other postal service in the world. The US Postal Service serves 161.4 million addresses in the country — covering every state, city and town. Everyone living in the United States and its territories has access to postal products and services and pays the same for a First-Class Mail postage stamp regardless of location.

The Postal Service is the original social network, but that doesn’t mean it is not represented on the others. You can find the Postal Service on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.