INDIANAPOLIS — A blind Indianapolis man known as "the Broom Guy," is allowed to return to four neighborhood post offices under an agreement reached Friday, according to the Indiana House speaker.
Jim Richter, 78, had been booted in February from Indianapolis post office property where he sold brooms for the past 60 years. The action prompted a storm of outrage after The Indianapolis Star first published article on the situation Sunday.
Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, wrote a letter Monday to the Indianapolis postmaster asking that Richter be allowed to return to his longtime spots outside the post offices. He said it was the third time since 2000 that he has intervened with postal officials who tried to shoo Richter from federal property.
Gov. Mike Pence and Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana, also went to bat for Richter, reaching out to state and federal post office officials.
The promise to allow Richter back on post office property followed "two long and very productive conference calls with USPS officials all the way from the local postmaster all the way up to the vice president for the Great Lakes region," Bosma said.
"The good news is that every once in a while the little guy wins," Bosma said.
The controversy and publicity provided a mini business boom for Richter, who said sales this week have been double or triple their normal level. The money he makes selling brooms helps supplement his Social Security income.
"Following a review of the unique facts, we are pleased to announce that the local post office has decided to allow Mr. Richter to return to the Nora branch location," said Mary K. Dando, a U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman. "This action ensures the safety of both Mr. Richter and our customers.”
The agreement also allows Richter to sell his brooms outside the Castleton, Bacon and Broad Ripple post offices, Dando confirmed.
Richter said he was happy and relieved to have the matter resolved. The Indianapolis man learned to make brooms as a student in the 1950s at the Indiana School for the Blind and has sold his wares outside post offices and on street corners.
These days, he buys his brooms from a nonprofit that serves the blind.
"I'm glad it got settled in such a good way," Richter said. "My thanks go out to you and all of the people that got behind me. It wouldn't have happened without them."
Postal officials never mentioned a reason for the action against Richter in February. But in an email to an Indianapolis lawyer unhappy about Richter's treatment, a local postal official said customers had complained about Richter, including some who said he had cursed at them.
Richter denied that claim.
Bosma said he did not learn why Richter was told to leave the Nora branch. The postal employee also told him he was no longer welcome on any local post office property.
In other instances when he had intervened, Bosma said, the effort to oust Richter came from "a newer local manager" who made a decision "without history or complete information."
Bosma also vouched for Richter's character.
"I’m confident that, unlike the report, that Mr. Richter wasn’t swearing at anyone," Bosma said. "I’ve known him too long and had too many conversations with him to know that’s not his MO."
In his letter, Bosma noted that a federal law, the Randolph-Sheppard Act, allows blind vendors access to sell their goods on post office property. Dando, the Postal Service spokeswoman, said last week the act focuses on vending machines and did not cover Richter.
"Whether technically he meets the requirements of the act, whether that’s true or not, it is smart business and positive for the community if he is allowed back on post office property," Bosma said Friday. "He's a local treasure."
In Arizona, a group of blind entrepreneurs also won a long-running dispute with the city of Phoenix over operating snack machines in government buildings. Arizona's version of the Randolph-Sheppard Act requires blind people to get first dibs on opportunities to operate vending machines and cafeterias on state, county and city property but Phoenix officials balked because they thought they could make more money by opening the bids more widely.
Bosma also praised the postal officials for reconsidering the February decision.
"They’ve put plenty of attention to the situation. I think perhaps they were operating with some misinformation on Mr. Richter and, hopefully, it will now all be resolved," Bosma said. "I really appreciate their hard work trying to make this thing right."
Bosma said a representative from his staff will meet with the postmaster next week to finalize locations for Richter to set up at the four post offices where he will once again be allowed to sell his brooms.
Contributing: Dustin Gardiner, The Arizona Republic. Follow Tim Evans on Twitter: @starwatchtim
