By Chris Fischer
“There’s a lot of changes happening.” This is a true statement from Postmaster Roze Padamadan, both for the postal service, and for herself. As of March, Padamadan has held the position for the Redfield area.
Her office is at the Redfield post office, but her responsibilities extend beyond city limits. There are 5 outlying post offices that she oversees: in Northville, Ashton, Tulare, Frankfort, and Hitchcock. There are both rural and city routes to cover.
Padamadan joined the postal service 9 years ago. She started out as a clerk, then moved into supervising and management. She became a postmaster last year, and headed up the Cando, ND office for a while. Before that, she worked for the postal service in Washington. She has experience in IT, management, and software development.
As a postmaster, Padamadan is in charge of the offices. Duties include bookkeeping, scheduling, budgeting, and making sure everything goes out. “Delivery is the most important thing.” she said. The postmaster stays until all of the day’s deliveries have been made.
She gave a rundown of her day. She comes to work in the morning and checks on things. She assesses the volume and how soon the deliveries could all be made. The mail is sorted by clerks, or comes presorted from places such as the Huron processing facility.

She has to do some planning. If a carrier is absent, she must consider how that carrier’s route will receive its deliveries. Padamadan makes arrangements to cover such routes. She makes sure that everything gets out for delivery. She checks for issues with deliveries or with customers, and looks for resolutions. “I want to find the root cause of problems, and the ultimate way to fix them. Delivery is the most important. Then we can fix the other issues.” she said.
Technology is used in ways such as tracking. Management can see where a carrier is along their route. Padamadan said that one of her favorite aspects of the job was the uniformity of the systems that different post offices use. She could rely on her experience, even while being new to the Redfield post office. She said that the work gives her a sense of satisfaction, and that she likes the people and the processes involved.
There are levels of post offices, based on population, revenue, and deliveries. Padamadan explained “a city can have only one postmaster.” The Redfield postal service includes routes that are in town, as well as routes that have both town and rural stops. There are also a couple of contract routes out of Hitchcock.
The job of postmaster involves some pressure. “It’s your responsibility, no matter whose fault it is.” Padamadan said. On top of that, she noted that there’s widespread staff shortages within the U.S. Postal Service. She has stayed busy with 6-day work weeks. These start at 9 a.m. and go until things are finished.
“We’re still struggling to keep post offices open.” Padamadan said. This doesn’t just affect small offices. The Huron processing facility came close to being closed down last year. Even with closures, deliveries must be made. “We have to have delivery to every address in the nation.” Padamadan said. There’s a focus on increasing efficiency. In some cities, corner boxes have replaced direct delivery to houses. She said “There will be changes, whether we want them or not. We will do the best we can, with the least impact.”
The postal service started as a government department, but over time it became its own entity. Padamadan explained that the post office does not receive monies from taxes. “Our salaries are paid for by stamp sales and other revenue, not federal funds or taxpayer dollars.”
The Redfield post office has a few job openings. Padamadan explained that listings can only be posted on the USPS website, and they only stay up for 30 days. This means that the listings aren’t always seen by a lot of people.
When she was with the postal service in Washington, she had 60+hour work weeks. The Redfield post office works at a slower pace. Padamadan described it as calm. She said “I hope to be here for a while. I really like the place, and the people.”
Postmaster Padamadan grew up in India. She said “I was born 9 degrees above the equator.” The area was tropical, and there were 2 kinds of weather: not rainy and rainy. Monsoons would come and pour for days. “At home, 75 degrees is cold. Here 75 is hot.” she said.
The cold was something that she had to adjust to. “When I first got to the U.S., it was very cold in Washington. The first year, my feet swelled up from the cold.” She eventually got used to it. Then she took the postmaster position in North Dakota. “North Dakota was another degree of cold.” But she had to carry on. The post office had to operate, no matter what the weather was like. Padamadan said that at one point she thought “Am I going to make it?” It was scary at first, but she figured it out.
Her father was in the Air Force, so she lived many places as a child in India. She still enjoys travelling, though she also appreciates having a home base and having some routine. Her parents live with her. They make the long trip back to India every year.
Padamadan said “I want to do my job, be happy, and spend time with my parents while they’re here.” Her brother lives in Dubai, UAE. Her 2 daughters live in the U.S. She has 2 grandchildren, ages 5 and 3, and another is on the way. Padamadan added “Home is where you are, and where your family is.”