By Khalida Sarwari
The U.S. Postal Service will hold a swearing-in ceremony today for a new postmaster replacing nine-year veteran John Kelly.
Dean Maeda, 47, applied for the position about four months ago because he thought it would be “neat to follow in my dad’s footsteps.”
Maeda said his father, who was a postmaster for Palo Alto about 20 years ago, is retired but he inspired Maeda to enter the field.
As postmaster, Maeda will be responsible for delivery operations for the entire city and in charge of overseeing the Palo Alto post office.
“I’m looking forward to being the one making the decisions for Palo Alto,” Maeda said.
The Sunnyvale resident started his career in 1982 as a letter carrier at the Sunnyvale post office. Five years later he went on to become supervisor. Then in 2005 he was promoted to manager at the main post office in Palo Alto.
Maeda is married and has three children, two of whom attend schools in Sunnyvale. His wife is a letter carrier. They have been very supportive and plan to attend the swearing-in ceremony, Maeda said.
“I’m excited and nervous. I just want to make sure it goes well,” he said.
The ceremony will be held at 12:30 p.m. at the main post office, 2085 East Bayshore Road.