Falmouth SSA Member Brings Board Consensus On Fast-Ferry Proposal

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

In a dramatic act of leadership that swept away two months of
tension, threats and personal attacks, the freshman member of the
Steamship Authority board of governors yesterday led his board into a
unanimous vote of approval for a two-year pilot high-speed ferry program
between New Bedford and the Vineyard.

"This institution has been plagued with baseless innuendo that
threatens to paralyze the ability of it to move forward," declared
Galen Robbins, the Falmouth boat line member appointed to the board in
late August.

The approval was accompanied by 13 stiff conditions that must be met
by Dec. 20, including a stipulation that New Bedford drop its lawsuit in
federal court and a written agreement from the city that it will pay
half of any operating loss incurred by the test ferry program.

Mr. Robbins said if all 13 conditions are not met by Dec. 20, the
deal is off.

"I can tell you now that I will not vote for this unless [all
the conditions] are realized," he said.

The much-anticipated vote came during the monthly boat line meeting
in Woods Hole yesterday morning. Mr. Robbins has been under almost
ceaseless personal attack by both the city of New Bedford and Vineyard
SSA member and board chairman J.B. Riggs Parker since he led a 2-1 vote
last month to kill an earlier version of the pilot high-speed ferry
project.

Yesterday a second proposal that was less expensive and shorter in
duration came before the board again for a vote.

Mr. Robbins later drew warm praise from a variety of camps for his
leadership and courage in the face of heavy pressure.

"They should tear a page out of Profiles in Courage and write
his name on it," declared Carl Pimental, a New Bedford resident
who attended the meeting.

"It's nice to feel that the Steamship Authority is back
in the hands of the Steamship Authority - Galen, thank you very
much for what you did today," said Vineyard businessman Steve
Bernier.

"Nantucket appreciates your leadership," said Nantucket
legislative liaison Tim Madden.

In a prepared statement, Nantucket governor Grace Grossman censured
New Bedford city solicitor George Leontire for his attacks.

"It is obvious that Mr. Leontire's objective is to
disgust and discourage Mr. Robbins and myself by his personal attacks.
Mr. Leontire's tyrannical outbursts will not succeed," she
said.

Mr. Robbins upstaged Mr. Parker, first quashing a vague, open-ended
motion promoted by Mr. Parker for the pilot ferry project. Mr. Robbins
then made his own detailed motion to approve the project with its strict
set of conditions.

For the second month in a row, Mr. Parker treated Mr. Robbins with
open disrespect on procedural matters. In a short round that sounded a
little like the Abbott and Costello "who's on first"
routine, Barnstable boat line member Robert O'Brien made the first
motion to adopt the high-speed ferry project, and Mr. Parker seconded
it. Mr. Robbins moved to amend the motion, but Mr. Parker would not
allow the amendment. Then Mr. Robbins offered to make a substitute
motion and Mr. O'Brien offered to withdraw his own motion on the
project in favor of Mr. Robbins's motion. But Mr. Parker refused
to withdraw his second. He then led the board through a charade
discussion on the first motion, even though he had seen Mr.
Robbins's motion ahead of time and knew what it contained.

"What, are we trying to suppress discussion here?" he
said to Mr. Robbins when Mr. Robbins tried to move the process along by
calling the question.

Mr. Robbins has brought a new chemistry to a boat line board that
has been rocked by internal problems in the last 10 months. Mr. Parker
has presided over board meetings with a heavy hand, and the atmosphere
at the monthly meetings has become brittle and rife with unsavory
behavior.

Yesterday there was a change in tone. Even Mr. Leontire, who has
spent the last month attacking the Falmouth and Nantucket governors,
suddenly struck a diplomatic tone.

"I believe today has the potential for being one of those
historic moments in the history of this region," he said, adding:
"Mr. Robbins has raised a lot of concerns and we have responded to
those concerns. Mrs. Grossman, I know we don't see eye to eye, but
New Bedford people are to a great degree the children of Nantucket
because of your whaling history. Relations have been strained, but
hopefully we can repair those relations."

Mr. Leontire's newfound tact drew an immediate barb from Mr.
Pimental, owner of the Billy Woods Wharf in New Bedford, where the ferry
Schamonchi docks. "I didn't hear you address yourself to the
way Mr. Robbins has held up under a barrage of eight hours of
deposition," Mr. Pimental said.

Among other things, last month after Mr. Robbins voted against the
high-speed ferry project, the city of New Bedford summoned him for an
eight-hour deposition under the guise of the pending lawsuit in federal
court.

The lawsuit charges that the boat line violated restraint of trade
laws.

The meeting yesterday was attended by nearly 100 people, including
many public officials from the Vineyard, Falmouth and Nantucket.

Opinions from Vineyard officials were mixed about the pilot
high-speed ferry service; some urged the boat line board to approve the
pilot program and some urged the board to reject it. Nantucket town
counsel Paul DeRensis urged the board to turn the program down, calling
it financially unsound. Later in the meeting, Mr. DeRensis also
announced that Nantucket will intervene in the federal lawsuit to
protect the interest of the boat line - especially its licensing
authority.

Mr. DeRensis said papers were filed in court yesterday and will not
be withdrawn unless the city actually withdraws its complaint.

"We have decided to no longer sit on the sidelines and watch
New Bedford's tactics," he said.

If all the conditions are met, the boat line will now execute a bare
boat charter with the Nichols shipyard in Washington state to lease a
499-passenger high-speed ferry for about $1 million a year for two
years. As part of the deal, the boat line will also take immediate steps
to sell the Schamonchi, which it bought early this year in a surprise
move for $1.7 million.

Other conditions required before the fast ferry test program can
proceed include the following:

* A written agreement with New Bedford allowing the Steamship
Authority to use the State Pier in New Bedford for freight service next
year.

* A written agreement to terminate the existing contract with
the owner of the Billy Woods Wharf, with New Bedford paying half the
cost of any settlement with the owners.

* Agreements with New Bedford for the city to develop a 900-car
parking lot, and also for the city to modify the State Pier terminal for
a passenger waiting area - all at the city's expense.

* A plan by the boat line to set aside $75,000 to study the
impact of the new ferry service on both Falmouth and the Vineyard. New
Bedford is to pay half of this expense.

Mrs. Grossman tried to add an amendment requiring the city to pay
for all the boat line's legal expenses in connection with the
federal lawsuit, but the amendment failed.

In the end, Mrs. Grossman drew an expression of surprise from Mr.
Parker when she voted to support Mr. Robbins's motion.

In his own statement yesterday, Mr. Robbins recounted the events of
the last month and described a boat line board that he said "has
been rudderless with no leadership."

He said: "It has been a very difficult and challenging time
for this board and myself over the last 30 days." In pointed
language, he ticked off the events:

"Potential partners have acted like schoolyard bullies.
Appointing boards have wielded significant influence on the process that
may turn away those who seek to serve the public on a volunteer basis. I
have been told by financial advisors not to look at the numbers. The
legal system has been abused and time and money has been wasted. . . .
All because of a vote I made on Oct. 18 based on fact and what I
believed to be the best decision."

In the end Mr. Robbins concluded that the most important task is to
is put a fractured boat line board back together.

"It is a question of moving forward and eliminating barriers,
regardless as to how baseless they are. It's about somehow weaving
this board, this institution back together again and focusing our
energies on future initiatives that will strengthen the Steamship
Authority," he said.