As the Steamship Authority works to find a new general manager, the committee tasked with finding the new ferry line leader has decided it will conduct interviews with candidates behind closed doors. And that, for a position that has been under heavy public scrutiny, has raised questions of transparency for some Vineyarders.
The Steamship Authority general manager search committee agreed on Friday that interviews and negotiations with candidates should be done in executive sessions until they selected a finalist to recommend to the board. Details of salaries and employment terms would ultimately be made public later on.
The committee is looking to hire a new general manager after Robert Davis announced in September that he would be stepping down this November. The Steamship announced a list of 40 applicants on Tuesday, and the committee could see a final list for the role by the end of the month.
The rationale for the board to conduct interviews in executive session was to not scare away candidates who didn’t want to publicly announce they were looking for a new job.
“What we’re talking about is confidentiality so that we do not scare away a potentially great candidate,” Jim Malkin, Martha’s Vineyard Steamship Authority board representative, said. He added that finding the right candidate was “hugely, hugely important.”
Robert Jones, Barnstable Steamship Authority board representative, pointed to an exemption in the state Open Meeting Law that allowed for preliminary screening of applicants to be done in executive session; Malkin said the ferry line’s general counsel, Terence Kenneally, agreed it was a possibility.
Jonathan Pearse, who heads the commercial maritime executive search process at Faststream, the firm tapped to find the ferry line’s next head, noted that candidates they spoke with were more often than not comfortable with conducting final-stage interviews on camera.
During the public comment period, members of the SSA Citizens’ Action Group made one more push to have a member of the public be a part of the hiring process — a request the committee had supported before ultimately tabling the matter. Margaret Hannemann, a founder of the action group, said it would be helpful to have an individual provide input “outside the little, tiny bubble of the Steamship board.”
Jones pushed back on the matter, saying board members were chosen as resident representatives of their communities. “We are all members of the public,” Jones said.
Beth O’Connor, also a founder of the action group, told The Times that the public was “completely out” of the hiring process, and that it seemed to be on a “need-to-know basis.” She said there were concerns of whether there’d be an internal promotion, rather than finding the most highly qualified candidate.
“This is our one shot to make it right,” O’Connor said.
So far, Faststream has reviewed 96 prospective candidates. Of those individuals, 40 have submitted applications.
As of Friday, Faststream had narrowed the list down to five individuals for more detailed discussion, and Jonathan Pearse, who heads Faststream’s search process, said they hope to finalize a shortlist of candidates by the end of July.
“The opportunity is attractive,” Pearse said. While some individuals were unavailable due to an inability to relocate, or being committed to new posts, Pearse said there wasn’t anything “Steamship-specific” that would be a roadblock in recruitment.
Pearse said Faststream was looking at candidates with a broad range of experiences — including rail, bus, and aviation systems — not just from the maritime industry. He noted that of the candidates, between 5 and 10 percent were women.
He also said most of the candidates sat on base salaries between $200,000 and $300,000, which was within Faststream’s expectations. Steamship general manager Robert Davis’ salary is $215,800.
