To the Editor:
As a decades-long Vineyard resident and close observer of the SSA, it was with considerable dismay that I finished reading the letter from the “Steamship Authority Citizens’ Action Group Steering Committee”. It would be helpful to know who is on that ‘Steering Committee’. Otherwise it becomes a self-appointed vigilante group that just wants to throw personal accusations at Jim Malkin, the Vineyard’s SSA governor and chair of the five member SSA Board? That hardly seems to be the way to solve the Vineyard’s obvious problems with the SSA.
There is definitely a need for a well-informed, supportive, Vineyard citizens’ group interested in addressing the issues. Indeed, the “Steamship Authority Citizens’ Action Group,” by waging a vendetta against Jim Malkin, who has championed, relentlessly, real cultural change at the SSA for the past 4-plus years is, sadly, very counterproductive.
The issues raised in their letter – expanding the search committee for a new SSA general manager, and opposing the controversial new ticket office now under construction in Woods Hole – are both valid concerns. But accusing Jim Malkin of flip-flopping is at best a misrepresentation, an oversimplification, and definitely unfair. He supports having an additional outside person on the search committee for a new general manager, but he doesn’t have the board votes to make it happen.
Likewise, building a replacement terminal building in WH has been in the works for well over a decade. Decisions approving it by SSA governing board happened prior to Malkin becoming a steamship governor. By then, unfortunately, there was no stopping it despite his and popular opposition. He has explained all that at two public meetings.
Working effectively within political entities like the SSA requires cooperation and patience, and change doesn’t happen instantly. One board member out of five acting as a constant contrarian also does not become an agent of change, which Malkin strives to be.
It certainly seems that this ‘Citizens Action Group’ doesn’t understand SSA reality, wants easy answers, and apparently just wants to unfairly attack Malkin. One of those easy answers, they suggest, is term limits for the SSA governors. Term limits, which sometimes make sense, are for the SSA a far more complex issue than it might first appear. In any case, arbitrarily replacing experienced, knowledgable board members with inexperienced ones, when management is the immediate problem, usually serves only to empower management.
Fixing SSA management can only happen with the right general manager. That’s where our focus should be in the search for a new one. Throwing bombs, especially at our knowledgeable, experienced SSA governor makes no sense, and this ‘Citizens Action Group’ should do their homework and become a constructive, supportive, force for change instead of a hindrance.
Richard Knabel
West Tisbury
Editor’s note: This post was updated with the correct version of the letter. An earlier post was outdated.
