Islanders, lawmakers and Steamship Authority officials all say change is needed after a bombshell report detailing millions in wasted funds was released by the inspector general’s office on Thursday.
Islanders, lawmakers and Steamship Authority officials all say change is needed after a bombshell report detailing millions in wasted funds was released by the inspector general’s office on Thursday.
Many called on the need for a cultural change in the ferry line’s management and board to ensure the problems the inspector general laid out in connection with the website project don’t happen again.
“The Inspector General’s damning report further confirms what we have been saying for years: that the Steamship Authority is plagued by mismanagement and waste with an oversight board that greenlights its dysfunction,” said Falmouth state sen. Dylan Fernandes in a statement.
He, along with state Sen. Julian Cyr and state Rep. Thomas Moakley, also reiterated support for term limits on Steamship board members in light of the report, which focused on the Steamship’s decision to attempt to build a new website before the aging reservation system.
“The Authority needs to right the ship and passing our legislation S2395 is a necessary step for more accountability,” Mr. Fernandes added. “The new general manager should institute a complete culture and management change to put an end to the Authority’s pattern of wasting millions of taxpayer and rider dollars.”
The inspector general’s report, released Thursday, claimed that management wasted millions of dollars by prioritizing a new website ahead of fixes to the aging reservation system. The report also faulted the board for a lack of oversight in the large project.
“This report is a gut punch for every Island resident, worker, and business owner who depends on the Steamship Authority as a lifeline,” said Mr. Cyr, a Democrat from Provincetown. “Millions of dollars in public funds were squandered because of basic failures in leadership, planning, and oversight, and the public was repeatedly given assurances that simply were not true.”
The mismanagement hurts not just the bottom line, Mr. Cyr noted, but also the public trust in the ferry line, which is a quasi-public agency.
“The Steamship Authority has an obligation to operate with competence, transparency, and respect for the people it serves,” he said. “This report makes clear that obligation was not met, and it cannot happen again.”
In an interview with the Gazette Friday, Mr. Moakley, a Woods Hole Democrat, said he believed that the report could be a turning point for the ferry line.
“Although the report is really devastating in a lot of ways, maybe it can be the baseline for that turning point,” he said.
The Steamship Authority Citizens Action Group, a recently formed coalition of Islanders and others concerned about the ferry line, said the report reaffirmed member’s worries about management.
“If you want to point to one problem, it’s the lack of oversight,” said Margaret Hannemann, a member of the group’s steering committee.
She supported the inspector general’s call for a special commission to look at the ferry line’s enabling act, and felt more scrutiny was needed for other projects, such as the Woods Hole terminal and addition of the new freight boats.
“We welcome and have urged in the background for the legislatare or the state to look at this,” she said.
Some Vineyard representatives at the Steamship Authority itself called the report a wakeup call for management.
Both James Malkin, the Vineyard Steamship board member, and Joe Sollitto, the Oak Bluffs member of the advisory port council, said they had voiced objections about how the website project was being conducted, eventually resulting in it being halted to prioritize the reservation system.
Mr. Malkin said that the report offers an opportunity to reassess how the board operates moving forward.
“The things that we are working on need to be addressed sooner and with far more rigor,” he said. “Questions need to be raised by the board to management.”
With new general manager Alex Kryska coming in, Mr. Malkin said this was an opportune time to make changes.
Still, there were several concerns about the board’s decision to keep current general manager Robert Davis on as a senior advisor after the inspector general’s report.
“Frankly, the demonstrated mismanagement over many years should give us all pause,” Mr. Cyr said in a statement. “If we want to set up the new SSA general manager for success, I would suggest that a perfectly clean slate is in order.”
Mr. Malkin, who is the sitting chair of the Steamship board, said he intended to call an executive session to address the issues surrounding that concern.
“I think the board needs to take action to deal with these issues and do what it can to clear the decks to create a pathway forward for the new general manager to be successful,” he said.
Comments
The best change that could
JD Naron VHThe best change that could possibly come from this would be making the steamship board ELECTED positions instead of appointed. Put it on the local ballots so that we, the residents, have a say in who represents us.
Agreed!
R Scott Patterson EdgartownAgreed!
The new reservation system is
Aaron VHThe new reservation system is going to be as big a fiasco as the website project, if not bigger. More journalistic attention needs to be focused on the fact that the new system from the Italian vendor is a software-as-a-service ("SaaS") product, which is to say that it's a subscription-based service that we will be paying for in perpetuity.
I would much rather see the SSA take the database schema of the existing reservation system and use that as a starting point for a modern reimplementation than marry itself to a costly foreign service that may not be particularly suited to the nuances of the SSA operations.
Aaron. I think that your
Jonnie Collins UkAaron. I think that your comment is misleading as is suggests that creating an in house bespoke service is a one off cost. That's just not true. It will need support and maintenance forever and this can become very costly. After a lifetime in IT Projects I am fed up of seeing businesses justify bespoke applications because "their business is different" which is rarely true. Yes, the SSA team who selected the new system need to ensure that it meets their needs (and we could wonder if they are capable of doing this based on past performance) but it the right way to go.
I have used the new software
Katherine Putnam EdgartownI have used the new software vendor since they are the backbone for Caledonian MacBrayne on the West Coast of Scotland which I have used the last three years when escaping the Vineyard in August. They have a lot more ferries and a lot more islands to service. Getting reservations works very well on their site and their app updates easily. The only thing they lack is a waitlist. We will be better off with them.
I agree. Saas is cost
Onlooker NjI agree. Saas is cost effective, constantly maintained and improved, and a much more stable choice than any one-off custom job. It’s a miracle the “bespoke” reservation system from the 90s is still operational. Probably a kindness from the original builder who would like to retire.
How about refunds or
MATT CHILD OF GAY HEADHow about refunds or discounts for regular customers during this time frame?? If Davis gets another nickel its a criminal act...........
Amen
EdAmen
electing them is a popularity
michael edgartownelecting them is a popularity contest. i am totally against electing people for this job....this new guy must clean house and hurt some feelings to get the job done.......getting the state involved is also a bad idea. if this ends up falling under the mass DOT, its a bad idea. .............i hope they dont screw up the head start program.........
Democrat with a small "d"?
KayDemocrat with a small "d"? Why?
All of this lip service is
Peter Duart OxfordAll of this lip service is great. However, ACTION is whats needed. Revisit the Enabling Act of 1960 and put the state in charge of the SSA. if you give the GM and Board new directives and parameters then all they will do is work around them
putting the SSA under state
michael edgartownputting the SSA under state control, would fall under the mass DOT. PLEASE DONT DO THAT. they take care of our roads, which are a mess. the bridges are an equal mess. and not to mention the registry of motor vehicles which is the biggest mess, and the MBTA?
i dont have the answer, but to privatize would be a good idea? lets face it...this is a big problem and the new guy coming in has a huge task in front of him....good luck
Seldom do I agree with
Don Pesh Oak BluffsSeldom do I agree with Senator Fernandes, but this time he is right on! The Steamship Authority, currently is, and has been for many, many years plagued by mismanagement and waste with an oversight board that greenlights its dysfunction. The men and women who run, maintain, load and work the boats, docks and Busses are awesome. I’ve had virtually no problems commuting weekly for 25 years. Obviously all boats break down and weather is a big factor but the problem is with the decision makers at the top and the Board. Incompetence, reckless spending, and having virtually no accountability and an open checkbook has created this problem. Crazy unnecessary spending in WH coupled with the last four boat purchases is a joke. A custom built boat that has no method of embarking and disembarking, a 100 stairs and one head coupled with three new pieces of junk is what we get for a $300 round trip. Term limits are a good idea but the problems lie much deeper. I think we are at a point where we need a Receiver or privatize it. Seldom does a a government or quasi government agree run efficiently. Just take a look at the post office. And please remember, as the price goes up the demand goes down.
Hi Don
Terry Donahue EdgartownHi Don
I completely agree with you. The members of the board of governors I believe try but do not experience to run a multimillion dollar per year organization. There has been no long range planning coupled with the charter allowing unlimited borrowing without oversight have lead us to thecurrent state. The board if governors all need to be replaced with people who have business experience running large companies. The biat you mentioned with one hundred stairs has an open to the weather freight deck. Did anyone think that a wet freight deck might form ice during our winters.
The ballroom/ticket office in
EdThe ballroom/ticket office in Woods Hole alone should have triggered a state takeover
Sounds like Jersey , please
rob the roofer new jerseySounds like Jersey , please don’t infest Martha’s Vineyard Island my Heaven on Earth with jersey politics tell me it’s A I or fake news.
Why do you think us locals
Michelle K VHWhy do you think us locals are so cranky all the time! ;)
A vital transportation system
Wendy WtA vital transportation system should be managed by the government. They have deeper pockets and the ability to source the best people to create an efficient system. Somethings would be harder, such as any sort of flexibility… but there would be rules, procedures and fair prices.
This also would open up the possibility for competition. For example, how many Edgartown residents skip the SSA and jump on the pied piper? Imagine if there was competition instead of a monopoly.
I want to get on and off the island without needing to be “patient, flexible or understanding.” I need reliability, accuracy, efficiency.
Dissolve SSA. MASSDOT take over in the short run. Long run: pied piper buys a car ferry……. Or something like that.
Somewhere in the world is an
Anne Perschel ChimarkSomewhere in the world is an island with a ferry system - including an organization design, structure and governance that works well. Why not learn from what’s working and what they’ve learned along the way.
While I don’t claim to have a solution for the Steamship Authority general organization design principles can be applied to creating new organizations; and improving or overhauling existing ones
1) If you replace people and the problem still exists, the problem is not the people, it’s the system.
2) Start with the organization's mission, goals and ecosystem in which it operates. The organization design should address and maximize all three.
3) Explore best known practices and customize as needed
4) Build in accountability, decision making, roles/responsibilities and communication channels/processes to maximize the mission, goals and ecosystem.
5) Every aspect of organization design has unintended consequences. Know what they are in advance and build solutions into the design.
6) Build mechanisms/processes to learn and make changes, because change will be needed
7) Make sure people have the experience, expertise and training needed to support their roles
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