Candidates for SSA Governor Make Case for Appointment

By JAMES KINSELLA

Four candidates vying to become the next Vineyard Steamship Authority governor made their respective cases Wednesday before the Dukes County Commission.

Kenneth DeBettencourt, Marc Hanover, Robert Sawyer and Mark Snider made opening and closing statements, and responded to the same set of questions which they had been given in advance.

The commission will hold a special meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday to vote on the three-year appointment, which is unsalaried.

The new appointee must win the votes of four or more of the seven county commissioners, county manager E. Winn Davis said. If no candidate receives four votes, Mr. Davis said the commission will decide what to do next.

If a new SSA member is named, Mr. Davis said the commission will take two votes: one putting the member into office immediately, and the other putting the member into office for a three-year term beginning Jan. 1.

County commissioner Nelson Smith did not attend the interview sessions. His fellow commissioners agreed that he could vote next Wednesday on the appointment after watching a videotape of the interviews.

Mr. Smith was the fiancé of the late Kathryn A. Roessel, the Vineyard SSA governor, who died Nov. 27 at her home. Ms. Roessel had been a candidate for reappointment.

After the interviews but before the conclusion of the meeting, Vineyard Haven resident Arthur Flathers called on the commission to reopen the process, given Ms. Roessel's death.

But the commission had decided Dec. 1 not to reopen the process, and stuck by that decision.

During the interviews the candidates identified a number of the same problems at the SSA, including customer service, but also set themselves apart.

Mr. DeBettencourt, an Oak Bluffs resident and Vineyard native who is a telephone company retiree, said he would be an arm of the county commission if appointed.

Better customer service, including more telephone reservation lines, is needed at the SSA, Mr. DeBettencourt said. He said the SSA needs to encourage an atmosphere of joy rather than of hassle among its customers.

He attributed falling revenues at the SSA not to the popularity of low-cost excursion fares for Vineyarders, but rather to the frustration of people who want to use the boat line, but get discouraged by the difficulty in securing reservations. He called for bringing back guaranteed standby, balancing the SSA budget, and raising fares for people coming to the Island. He also said the boat line should keep open the option of moving freight to the Vineyard from New Bedford.

Mr. Hanover, an Oak Bluffs restaurateur who is chairman of the port council, an advisory board to the SSA, said two critical issues are improving customer service and keeping fares at a reasonable level.

Through the restaurant business, he said, he has learned the importance of taking care of customers to encourage their loyalty. Mr. Hanover said he'd like to improve the boat line web site to the point where people could reserve a particular spot for their vehicle, just as airline customers can reserve a particular seat.

He said the SSA needs to improve its efficiency, pointing to the recently approved plan to widen the freight boats, which will allow the SSA to carry more trucks without increasing crews.

Mr. Hanover said he doesn't believe the SSA is in place to promote the Vineyard, but neither should it be an obstacle for Vineyarders and visitors traveling back and forth.

If he is chosen as Vineyard governor, Mr. Hanover said, he will reach out to individuals such as interim general manager Wayne Lamson, former Vineyard SSA members such as Ronald H. Rappaport, and Robert Murphy. He said he would look to the county commissioners for guidance.

Mr. Hanover said the SSA should consider keeping trucks off the large ferries, both because they take up space and because a mix of passenger cars and small trucks raises safety issues.

In the only departure from the standardized question format, county commission chairman John Alley asked Mr. Hanover about his position on guaranteed standby. Mr. Hanover said he opposes it.

He said the question of low-cost excursion fares for Vineyarders is a difficult one, because it's been identified as cutting into SSA revenues. He favored keeping the policy but called for policing it more closely to prevent abuses.

On the subject of Nantucket, whose relationship with the Vineyard on SSA matters has been rocky in recent years, Mr. Hanover said he gets along well with Nantucket SSA member Flint Ranney, who served with Mr. Hanover for a couple of years on the port council.

Mr. Sawyer, who is a county commissioner, didn't interview the other candidates and said he wouldn't vote on the appointment.

In his interview Mr. Sawyer, a real estate broker and financial adviser, said if he wins the appointment, he will view the Vineyard as his client in a fiduciary relationship. Mr. Sawyer said he would hold monthly forums and would set up a web site for Island residents to make comments about the SSA.

He said no single entity plays a larger role in the life of the Vineyard than the boat line, and he emphasized the importance of the partnership with Nantucket.

Mr. Sawyer said the SSA needs a thorough analysis by an outside party with an eye toward revising operations and fare structure. Updating the 1994 McKinsey report on the boat line would be a way to move forward on this issue, he said.

He also said the SSA needs to engage in short-term and long-term planning. He questioned sharp price increases voted this year for Woods Hole parking permits and Vineyard school trips, as well as New Bedford service decisions in recent years that have cost the boat line - and in part its Vineyard customers - $5 million or more. He said the SSA should call on the Martha's Vineyard Commission for planning assistance.

Mr. Sawyer said the boat line needs to review its entire fare structure, and he said employee morale at the boat line is at an all-time low. He spoke of the need to create a team environment. He also spoke of the need for a seamless, online reservations service.

Mr. Snider, who is an Edgartown hotelier, expressed concern about a 30 per cent increase in SSA costs since the late 1990s while traffic has been flat or declining.

He said while full-fare customers have been subsidizing excursion fares for Vineyard residents, the imbalance eventually will lead to unacceptable fare increases even for Island residents. He said the boat line should examine flexible fare pricing, which would encourage use of the boats at off-times by charging lower fares.

Mr. Snider said he would like the SSA to embrace a more passenger-oriented, intermodal culture. In 1885, he said, a customer could have his baggage put on a train in Boston and travel by train and boat to the Vineyard, where a train would take him to an Edgartown hotel and he would be reunited with his baggage. "Shame on us that we don't have their system today," he said.

He said the SSA could use the system in the other direction for Vineyarders, allowing them to travel from the Tisbury park and ride to Falmouth, where a shuttle could take them to places such as the Falmouth Hospital or the Falmouth Mall, and return them via ferry and shuttle to the park and ride.

Mr. Snider said he would work closely with Nantucket, though he wants to make certain that Nantucket pays its fair share of SSA costs.

Mr. Snider said he would make a point to have a respectful relationship with the county commissioners, and to listen to elected officials and members of the public.