By Judy Halone

Contributing Writer

When it comes to reliability, speed and accuracy, Bud Quinoveva’s in the driver’s seat.

And that’s a good thing for Snoqualmie Post Office’s 2,000-plus box holders.

Quinoveva, 61, became the city’s newest postmaster Sept. 1 after working as a supervisor in Seattle’s mail processing center for 24 years.

He welcomed the move east and the switch to visible customer service.

“Before, I was stuck in one area,” Quinoveva said. “I processed the mail every day and now I’m in charge of the whole building.”

Quinoveva starts his work day at 7:30 a.m., when he readies the workplace for fellow co-workers Mary Abbott-Retzlaff and Yun Chang. A half-hour later the employees begin sorting mail into nine sections.

“We have to sort the mail out by box section and then put it in the boxes – it’s a daily operation,” he said. “All the boxes have their mail by 11 o’clock.”

His knack for learning new job duties hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“He seems like he’s able to adapt to a totally new situation — he has an easy-going personality,” Abbott-Retzlaff said.

While new to the postmaster position, he’s seen plenty of changes over two decades, especially the drop in U.S. Postal business due to online bill paying.

“There’s been a drop-off of nine to 20 percent in volume, with an overall average of four or five percent a year,” he said. “More people are getting accustomed to paying their bills online.”

Still, the mail must go through.

“On a daily basis, the Post Office does more mail in one day than FedEx and its competitors do in one year — that’s a lot,” he said.

Off the clock, Quinoveva gives attention to the details of his hobbies: restoring old cars — something he’s done since his high school days — and drag racing.

“I did a total restoration on a ’64 Plymouth Fury,” he said. “It has a very powerful engine — it puts out over 700 horsepower. I run in the Pro-Street class at Pacific Raceways in Kent.”

Staying in the fast lane, he’s hoping to install the Fury’s engine over the winter with his 21-year-old son, Victor, with visions of an April start line.

But already, the father-son duo is both calling shotgun.

“He’s already said he’s going to be doing the driving,” he said with a laugh.

With a hobby keeping him in the fast lane and new job duties to learn, there’s still one more goal Quinoveva’s set: to meet all of his Snoqualmie customers.

“Slowly but surely, I’ll get to know them,” he said. “We try to have someone at the window at all times,” he said. “Come on by and say hi. I’d love to meet the people out here.”

The Snoqualmie Post Office lobby is open 24 hours a day and its office hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. It is located across from the new Snoqualmie City Hall.