St. Petersburg residents attacked a proposal to reroute mail to Tampa on Wednesday, saying it would erase part of the city's identity while lengthening delivery times.

St. Petersburg's mail processing facility would lose 19 jobs and the city would lose its postmark except in special circumstances under the proposal. The losses worried about 150 city officials, residents and Postal Service employees gathered for a town hall meeting at the Main Library.

The St. Petersburg postmark would be replaced with Tampa, though postal officials might consider Tampa Bay or some other more generic variation.

"I am a fourth generation St. Petersburg resident," said Barbara McCormick Heck, vice president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations. "I am not Tampa, or Tampa Bay."

Postal Service officials are studying whether to consolidate some mail sorting operations in Tampa. The plan would save $1.3-million a year and reduce inefficiencies in the system, they say. Most mail sent from south Pinellas County, now processed in St. Petersburg, would be processed near Tampa International Airport.

"Nothing will change from a delivery perspective," said Michael Jordan, the Suncoast district manager of customer service and sales.

Postal workers said they have collected several hundred signatures of people opposing the consolidation.

City officials, meanwhile, continued to press for more details and have requested an independent audit of a Postal Service study.