A prominent Boston attorney who represents the Steamship Authority
fired back yesterday at the state attorney general for climbing into bed
with the city of New Bedford in the latest political gambit around the
public boat line that is the lifeline to the two Islands.
An all-Island public forum was announced this week amid a perceived growing disconnection between the Vineyard community and its elected leaders over Steamship Authority affairs.
Kathryn Roessel Begins First Term Amid Aggressive Selectmen's Campaign to Overthrow Her With Political Maneuvers
In a quiet ceremony on the second floor of the Edgartown courthouse yesterday, Kathryn A. Roessel was sworn in as the new Vineyard Steamship Authority governor.
The appointment came amid a fresh wave of back-corridor politics, both on the Vineyard and on Beacon Hill, aimed at some kind of coup to overthrow Ms. Roessel by fast-tracking a piece of stalled legislation that would overhaul the SSA board of governors.
Traffic is down, revenues are down, there's an economic downturn going on and the weather has been awful.
As a result of all this, the Steamship Authority will begin to sell advertising space on the ferries and in the boat line terminals to pick up some extra cash.
Boat line managers also said yesterday that they will continue to pursue a plan to change the winter ferry schedule on the Vineyard run as a way to save some money.
The coldest weather in years has the Vineyard in a deep freeze.
Night temperatures have dropped into single digits and afternoon highs
have stayed below freezing every day this week but one. Edgartown and
Oak Bluffs harbors are locked up in ice.
A proposal by the Steamship Authority to close down the Oak Bluffs
terminal at the end of September instead of mid-October has stirred up
protest from business leaders in town.
Three months after an accident that nearly claimed the life of one
of its employees during a routine training exercise, the Steamship
Authority is refusing to release the results of its own internal
investigation into the mishap.
Traffic was down, but parking tickets were up. The weather was changeable; ditto for the restaurant and retail business. The wild blueberries were not so hot, but the fishing was great - lots of big bass and small bluefish, and on the full moon in July the fluke were so thick in some places you could practically throw out an old shoe and catch one.
These are the benchmarks of the summer of 2003, and as the official summer season came to a close this week, the people of the Vineyard took a quick look back, and most could agree on two things:
Business Leaders Want to Say: Boat Reservations Are a Mess
By ALEXIS TONTI
The Steamship Authority vehicle reservation system is broken.
That was the take-home message this week at a forum that started as
a focused debate about the boat line's new guaranteed standby
policy and expanded to a broad indictment of the way the SSA books
passengers.
The forum, hosted by the Dukes County Commission, was held Wednesday
at the Vineyard Transit Authority administration building.
Passenger and Car Fares Stay the Same But Commuters, Truckers,
Schools All Can Expect Sharp Increases
HYANNIS - Vineyard residents will shoulder the bulk of next
year's rate increases, which were unanimously approved by
Steamship Authority governors at their monthly meeting in Hyannis on
Wednesday.
