Updated Feb. 10
Dukes County officials have chosen three finalists to possibly become the Vineyard’s next representative on the Steamship Authority Board.
On Friday afternoon, the Dukes County Commissioners’ nominating committee unanimously approved three candidates to advance to the next round of interviews with the full commission: former Oak Bluffs Select Board chair Gail Barmakian, Oak Bluffs resident Cameron Naron, and Ted Gavin, treasurer of the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center.
Each candidate brings a different set of experiences with them. Barmakian, a lawyer, currently chairs the Oak Bluffs Wastewater Commission and previously served five terms on the town’s select board. Naron is the director of the federal Office of Maritime Security and previously served in the U.S. Coast Guard, retiring with the rank of captain. Gavin is a certified turnaround professional, a role that helps stabilize troubled companies, and serves on the boards of several nonprofit boards, including the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association.
Screenings of the candidates were completed in executive sessions before the finalists were chosen. They will be interviewed in open sessions. Don Leopold, chair of the nomination committee, previously told The Times that at least one candidate wanted to be left anonymous unless they were a finalist, so applicants’ names were kept secret until the final rounds since other candidates may have felt the same way and the committee didn’t want to discourage applications.
But some Islanders had taken issue with this approach and believe the process should have been more transparent.
At the Feb. 4 commissioners meeting, Ebba Hierta, an Edgartown resident, said she found the secrecy “appalling,” especially given the recent revelations from the state about the mismanagement of the ferry line’s top leadership and the Steamship board.
“This isn’t like a job application where you need to protect the identity of the initial applicants because it could impact their job,” Hierta said “This is a public representation and to do this in secrecy under these conditions, again, I find them appalling.”
Christine Todd, chair of the commissioners, said they had an agreement to protect the candidates’ privacy, but the finalist candidates will all be reviewed publicly and added that the appointment won’t be immediate, giving Islanders time to provide input.
“It’s been a very laborious process, as you can imagine, trying to find the best qualified candidate for this crucial role,” Todd said.
Additionally, Leopold told the Times that not releasing the candidates’ names did not violate the state Open Meeting Law.
“State OML requires only that the names of finalists be made public, with which we agree and will absolutely do; and all meetings with those finalists will be public,” Leopold wrote in an email. “The issue has never been one of secrecy; one or more of the candidates specifically requested for his/her name to remain private unless and until he/she became a finalist, which we have respected for all.
The commissioners had extended the application period in January for the position after Jim Malkin, the current representative on the Steamship board, announced he would not be seeking another three-year term.
Since then, 14 candidates had applied for the position, which had been whittled down to eight people invited for Zoom interviews on Feb. 2.
Malkin was chosen out of 10 candidates in 2020, so there’s slightly stiffer competition this time. The new representative will join just weeks after new Steamship Authority General Manager Alex Kryska began his position last month.
The Vineyard’s new Steamship representative’s three-year term would begin on March 1.
Editor’s note: Updated with additional information on the candidates.