Six months into his new role, Steamship Authority General Manager Alex Kryska received high marks from the ferry line’s board members and an over $26,000 pay bump.
Board members shared their evaluations of Kryska, in which he got an average grade of 90.5 out of 100, at Oak Bluffs Town Hall on Tuesday. While these evaluations typically happen on an annual basis, the mid-point review for Kryska was a part of the contract he signed in December.
Kryska said he’s “still having fun” and learning daily. He said that running the ferry line is a team effort.
“There’s a phrase I heard a couple of years ago: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, you go together,” he said.
Ted Gavin, the Vineyard’s representative, gave Kryska a 95. Gavin said Kryska’s “most visible positive attitude” was his ability to “reprioritize quickly while coming back to the core task.” In particular, Gavin highlighted Kryska’s role of responding to what he called one-off “fires” from Vineyarders.
Gavin was appointed to the board in March, and he expressed confidence in the approach Kryska’s taken — from committing to public transparency and culture shift — since that time. All were aspects that the board emphasized was necessary in its search for a new general manager last year.
“It’s your first six months, and you’re running and shooting,” Gavin said. But he warned Kryska that the next six months will be “a lot harder,” adding that “as you get into the minutiae, the machine will resist the changes that you are trying to make.”
Robert Jones of Hyannis and Robert Ranney both praised Kryska and gave him a 92 and 90 respectively.
The strictest grading came from Peter Jeffrey, board chair and Falmouth representative, who was the only one not to award a grade of at least 90. Instead, he graded Kryska’s first six months at an 85. Jeffrey said the implementation of the general manager’s timeline of key objectives was slower than initially planned. Still, he praised Kryska’s leadership, accountability, and efforts to restore relations with port communities.
“We’re very positive we’re headed in the right direction,” Jeffrey said.
Following an executive session, the board voted to increase Kryska’s salary from $225,000 to $251,513.60. The only board member who didn’t vote or provide an evaluation was Kreg Espinola, the newly appointed New Bedford representative. The Tuesday meeting was Espinola’s first public appearance in a meeting; he replaced longtime New Bedford representative Moira Tierney.
“Hopefully, my first six months will be as successful as [Kryska’s] sounds to be,” Espinola said.