MILL VALLEY, CA — On Friday, Sept. 25, 2015, at 10:30 a.m., Ric Tolero will follow a tradition that dates back to 1939, when James Clyde Strauss was appointed as the first Postmaster in Mill Valley. Tolero will raise his right hand to be sworn in as the new Postmaster at the Mill Valley Post Office, 751 E. Blithedale Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941.
Tolero started his U.S. Postal Service career in the early 1970s as a temporary clerk at the Rincon Annex in San Francisco. In 1985, he was hired as a letter carrier at the Hayward Post Office. He held various assignments as a carrier, including carrier technician, router, collector, on-the-job Instructor and driver’s training instructor. He served as a union official for the National Association of Letter Carriers.
In 2001, Tolero completed the Associate Supervisor Program. He held positions as customer service supervisor at the Hayward, Castro Valley, Danville, and Berkeley Post Offices. He was also detailed as customer service at the Berkeley Post Office.
In 2014, Tolero was selected to represent the Pacific Area in creating the New Supervisor Program for the Postal Service. He was picked to initiate and troubleshoot the Passive Adaptive Scanning System (PASS), Delivery Schemeless Sortation (DSS), Regional Intelligent Mail Server (RIMS), and Delivery Management System (DMS) programs for the Bay-Valley Postal District.
“Being a postmaster goes beyond holding a position and title,” said Tolero. “It is an obligation to serve the Postal Service and community with the utmost of integrity and values set forth by the United States Postal Service as stated in its core value and mission to be the premier delivery service in the world. It is always humbling to know that as postmasters it is our job to serve our community and employees in a manner that would be of best benefit to all we serve. I am here only as a guide and to give the necessary tools to those who want to accomplish the job.”
Tolero and his wife, Joyce, have two lovely daughters, Elizabeth, 29, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from UC Berkeley and Marissa, 26, who completed her master’s degree in Family Counseling from New York University. Tolero completed undergraduate programs in Kinesiology at San Francisco State and UC Berkeley and holds a Sports Medicine license from St. Francis Medical.
Tolero is active in annual neighborhood block events and weekly community garden meetings. He does community work at Laguna Honda Senior Center and Cal State Hospital, and he is a Sierra Club volunteer to help inner-city youth participate in outdoor and hiking activities.
As Mill Valley Postmaster, Tolero manages all operations at the Mill Valley Post Office with a total of 33 carrier delivery routes and 14,538 delivery points (residential and business addresses) and 1,800 Post Office Boxes. He manages 67 employees who process and deliver average daily volume of 110,000 pieces of mail.
Post Office Operations Manager Bobbi Riley will administer the official oath of office. Tolero replaces Christian Buzzelli who transferred to Novato Post Office as postmaster.
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