Dukes County and Nantucket County will hold a joint hearing on Steamship Authority legislation put forth by state Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro, and state Rep. Dylan Fernandes, D-Falmouth. The legislation would impose term limits on the ferry line’s board, and establish a chief operating officer (COO) position. Fernandes previously indicated the COO portion would be dropped from the bill, because the SSA opted to adopt that position.
Nantucket County Commissioners (who are also the select board) and Dukes County Commissioners have opposed the legislation. Lack of public process and state overreach have been the refrains of the two counties since they began to weigh in on the subject in late winter. The Dukes County Commissioners opted to send a letter to the state legislature’s joint transportation committee outlining the county’s position. Nantucket County sent a letter on March 21. The Dukes County position agreed upon prior to a letter being drafted was that the criticism of the legislation didn’t translate into a lack of confidence in Cyr and Fernandes on all their other work. Nantucket County, through its letter, has expressed the same opinion. “We greatly appreciate the efforts of our legislators to help Nantucket with numerous home rule petitions and either assistance and guidance — except for this,” the letter states.
The joint meeting is scheduled for April 11 at 5 pm. The meeting is being held via Zoom. The meeting ID is 834 6695 8528, and the meeting passcode is 069503.
