Calls intensify for SSA term limits 

Amid escalating complaints from the public over disrupted service, mismanagement, and a faltering website, advocacy groups for passengers on and off the Island are ramping up their calls for term limits on the main board that manages the Steamship Authority, and elected officials are getting behind the calls. 

Vineyarders, Falmouth residents, and state legislators have recently called for the passage of a bill that would cap the number of terms that officials can serve on the five-member board, with advocates citing concerns over some members serving well over a decade, and highlighting a few instances where members have served terms right after their family, which some have argued stifles change and borders on nepotism. 

“We need to stop the status quo, and that status quo is on almost every level of the operations, and finances, and everything … it’s everywhere,” said Beth O’Connor, a steering committee member of Steamship Authority Citizens’ Action Group, which advocates for reform and improvements at the ferry line. Capping term limits is among the priorities of the recently formed group.

The Dukes County Commissioners, who appoint the Vineyard’s Steamship Authority representative, are also considering sending a letter of support for the bill. Christine Todd, commission chair, said she and Tisbury Commissioner Tristan Israel, who are members of the commission’s legislative committee, will be supporting it during their Wednesday meeting. 

The recent momentum has circled around legislation that was refiled in January by state Sen. Dylan Fernandes, who represents Falmouth, that would limit Steamship Authority board members to three terms. Each term on the board is three years. As of now, there are no term limits for board members. If passed, current members would be able to finish out the remainder of their term and serve one more term “immediately after their current term expires.” 

The bill was referred to the state Joint Committee on Transportation on Feb. 27, and is awaiting a hearing date. 

The ferry line was created through and governed by the Enabling Act of 1960, which has undergone changes over the decades that added more port community representatives. The Steamship Authority board initially only consisted of Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and Falmouth representation. Barnstable and New Bedford were added to the board in 1991 and 2002, respectively. The board oversees the administration of the Steamship. Municipalities and, as is the case for the Vineyard and Nantucket, county commissions appoint their respective members.

Among the current board members, Nantucket representative Robert Ranney and New Bedford representative Moira Tierney, who have so far served slightly over 12 years and nearly 10 years respectively, were both appointed right after their fathers served. H. Flint Ranney served Nantucket from 2004 to 2012. John A. Tierney served New Bedford from 2008 to 2015. Meanwhile, Barnstable representative Robert Jones has served since 2016, but he also served around 14 years on the Port Council, an advisory group to the board.

Since 1961, the beginning of the board, most members served fewer than three terms, and seven board members since 1961, including Robert Ranney and Moira Tierney, served more than 10 years. 

Although an unpaid position, there are some benefits to serving on the board. Board members — and their spouses and children — travel aboard nearly all Steamship vessels for free. This perk becomes permanent after serving on the board for at least three years. The only exception is aboard the fast ferry Iyannough, which travels between Hyannis and Nantucket; representatives pay half-price for the passenger fare of the fast ferry. Meanwhile, active board members and their spouses pay half of the excursion rate for vehicle reservations. If the board member is traveling on Steamship Authority business, they can travel with their vehicle for free. Active board members also get free parking at Steamship parking lots. 

The new Vineyard action group has targeted representatives of Barnstable, Nantucket, and New Bedford — the three who have served the longest on the board — as sources of stagnation at the Steamship. 

Members of the Vineyard group and the Falmouth-based Southeast Massachusetts Regional Transportation (SMART) organization gathered on Monday at Woods Hole library to discuss a range of topics, including term limits, with their state legislators. State Rep. Thomas Moakley, who represents the Vineyard, and Jack Richardson, Fernades’ district director, were also present. 

Term limits were viewed by advocates as a key steppingstone to spark greater transparency and fresh ideas at the ferry line. It was also seen as a way to have more oversight over Steamship leadership and the board itself. 

“[If] you couldn’t be just reappointed with a rubber stamp, then more candidates will come forward saying, ‘I want to get involved in this,’” Amy Cody, a co-founder of SSA Citizens’ Action Group, told The Times. 

In a quiet, dimly lit section of the ferry Island Home, members of the SSA Citizen’s Action Group steering committee told the Times about their concerns on the ride back home. Their consensus was that a shakeup of the board membership was necessary to push Steamship leadership to move in the “right direction,” like modernizing ferry operations and better contracts for crew, negotiations for which have been underway for more than a year. Action group co-founder Margaret Hannemann said setting term limits was the “Band-Aid” that will help lead to addressing other aspects of the ferry line, like keeping tabs on the next general manager. 

“That goes back to the board, because the board hires and continues to support the general manager,” Hannemann said. 

While the term lengths of Ranney, Jones, and Tierney are not unprecedented, action group steering committee member Beth O’Connor said that there shouldn’t be a “lineage” or “nepotism” in appointments. Particularly, the action group highlighted Nantucket as the worst offender. Aside from the more than 20 years of representation from the Ranney family so far, former Nantucket representative Grace Grossman was appointed after her husband, Bernard Grossman. 

O’Connor described the more recent representatives of the Barnstable, Nantucket, and New Bedford “voting bloc” as sometimes at odds with the Vineyard and Falmouth — where residents have pushed for change to the Steamship for years — and that it led to “entrenchment.”

But some active board members pinpointed by the advocacy groups pushed back on the claims that they were smothering improvements. 

Robert Ranney told The Times he is not opposed to term limits, but argued they already exist in some capacity, since a board member’s appointing authority is free to appoint another individual after each three-year term. He also said long-term service on the Steamship board was evidence of an individual’s willingness to serve, and the local officials’ confidence in the representative serving their constituents. 

Ranney also said the “blanket state legislature mandate” cedes part of a municipality’s authority to choose whom they want representing them on the Steamship board, and ignores that not every port community agrees on what is beneficial for them.

“The fact that a citizen offers themselves to serve in an uncompensated, underappreciated, and often maligned role, in the best interests of the traveling public and the SSA as a whole, only demonstrates a strong motivation to serve the public,” Ranney said. 

Ranney said “ubiquitous public misconceptions” about the board’s role were behind the call for term limits. He highlighted that while board members need to consider their communities’ interests, they also have to consider the ferry line’s overall interests. Ranney said keeping the board’s stability was important for continuation and oversight of ferry operations.

He also pushed back on the notion that the board was doing little for the public, or longtime members were hindering progress, saying, “The opposite is true, and especially so in terms of the SSA as a whole.”

“Implementing change at the SSA, like most governmental agencies, takes time,” Ranney said. “It was suggested to me many years ago that effecting change at the SSA is like cutting down an enormous oak tree with a pocket knife. It can be done, but it will take a fair amount of time and patience.”

Jones, a fourth-generation Cape Codder who has years of experience in the maritime industry, raised similar points to Ranney’s, saying board members have a “fiduciary responsibility” to the ferry line alongside their municipal loyalties. Additionally, he said, longevity of board membership means a lower likelihood of repeating the same mistakes. 

“If the town of Barnstable is willing to appoint me, then I’m willing to serve, and my institutional knowledge goes deep,” Jones said. 

Jones also pointed out that it takes time to find the right candidates. He said it took six months to appoint a new Barnstable port councilor after he left the position for the board. 

He also emphasized that more than just length of service, the character and relationships with local officials of board members is important. Jones said controversy swirled in Barnstable when the ferry line first set up a route between the town and Nantucket, particularly over freight. He said while a pilot route was done between New Bedford and the Vineyard, this turned out to be a costly endeavor. With a growing amount of dissension and feuding among port communities, Jones said board members invited local officials to dinner. Building rapport over lobster rolls and clam chowder helped find compromise, Jones said.

“What is happening today is nobody is taking the initiative to cool the waters,” Jones said. 

Jones said the board is currently working well, and the Steamship has accomplished much over the past 20 years. He underscored that activist organizations also needed to recognize that compromise was needed, rather than trying to control the ferry line. 

Tierney, who missed more than half of board meetings last year, was not immediately available for comment. 

Jim Malkin, Martha’s Vineyard representative and board chair, told The Times that he thought “three terms is the proper amount in any situation.” Malkin’s second term on the board ends next year, and he also chose not to run for re-election for Chilmark select board earlier this year after serving three terms. 

This isn’t the first time term limits have been floated at the state legislature. Fernandes also introduced a similar bill in 2022 with State Sen. Julian Cyr, who represents the Vineyard on Beacon Hill. The former, unsuccessful bill had more proposals attached to it, like attempting to require the Steamship Authority to hire a COO — which the ferry line eventually did on its own. The lack of local input prior to some of the proposals in the 2022 bill was criticized by Vineyard officials. 

This time, state senators are taking a piecemeal approach to introducing bills to amend the Steamship Authority, which Richardson, Fernandes’ district director, said would help in making the case for term limits over concerns like members being on the board too long or serving after a family member served, particularly since many state officials in Boston are unfamiliar with the ferry line. 

“The [Cape and Islands] delegation seems to be more in lockstep this legislative calendar, and very collaborative,” Richardson said during the Woods Hole meeting.

Fernandes declined to comment about the latest attempt at Steamship term limits. 

Cyr, a petitioner of the bill, said while they don’t want to “upset the applecart,” the “common sense” term limits were introduced as a way to “balance institutional knowledge and longevity with having some fresh perspectives.” 

“We wouldn’t want mass turnover on the board,” Cyr said. 

During the Monday meeting in Woods Hole, Moakley said the narrative years ago regarding Steamship Authority issues was “Falmouth versus the Vineyard.” Now, there is more common ground. 

“When I was campaigning, people kept bringing up Steamship issues,” Moakley, who was sworn in as a freshman lawmaker in January, said. “It really did not sound like there was a lot of difference about the direction people want to go.”

Moakley told The Times he encourages constituents who “feel strongly about the issue” to submit testimony both at the hearings and in writing. He also underscored that it’ll be important to find common ground among all of the port communities, and Vineyard advocates said they plan to reach out to people in Barnstable, Nantucket, and New Bedford. 

How long they’ve served

Here’s a look at past, present and longtime serving board members for the Steamship Authority:

Martha’s Vineyard

• 11 board members since 1961 
• Current member: Jim Malkin, 2020–present
• Longest-serving member for Island: Marc Hanover, 2004–2020

Falmouth

• 12 members since 1961
• Current member: Peter Jeffrey, 2022–present
• Longest-serving member for town: John H. Smith, 1963–1990

Nantucket

• 8 board members since 1961
• Current member: Robert Ranney, 2013–present
• Longest-serving member for town: Bernard D. Grossman, 1983–1996

Barnstable

• 2 board members since 1991
• Current member: Robert Jones, 2016–present
• Longest-serving member for town: Robert L. O’Brien, 1991–2016

New Bedford

• 3 members since 2002
• Longest-serving member for city: Moira Tierney, 2015–present