Everett, Wash.
Published: Sunday, December 16, 2007

Ferries kindling a political firestorm

Poor funding isn't the only reason the state has been slow to replace its aging fleet.

By Scott North, Lukas Velush and Jerry Cornfield, Herald Writers

 SEATTLE -- In the days leading up to Gov. Chris Gregoire's decision to retire the state's Steel Electric-class ferries, Paula Hammond left no doubt that bigger changes are on the horizon for Washington State Ferries.

The state's new transportation secretary knows many people consider ferry leadership to be as shaky as the 80-year-old boats Hammond ordered tied up Nov. 20 because of safety concerns. Embarrassed state lawmakers -- many of whom had been assuring people for years that all was well below decks on the boats -- are circling for blood.

Hammond told ferry employees there is no choice but to retool a culture that outsiders view as out-of-touch, obstructionist and unworthy of trust.

"I told them we had an obligation to change people's impressions of the ferry system, and I told them we were starting that day, and they rallied around that," Hammond said.

Hammond, who has been in her new job since October, enjoys wide and deep support among department employees and is respected by Democrat and Republican legislative leaders.

She's received high marks for swiftly making tough decisions on how to replace the state's oldest ferries and assisting the governor in developing a plan to build new boats. Those were problems her predecessor, Doug MacDonald, said he regretted never fixing.

Hammond will face tough questions next month when lawmakers reconvene and hearings are held on the effects of her decisions and the future of the ferry system.

Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, head of the Senate Transportation Committee, has said she is angry enough over the state's reliance on unsafe boats that she believes people should lose their jobs.

"Mary Margaret is right; I think we need to get to the bottom of this," said House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam. "This is just unconscionable. Why would anybody put up with a plan to use boats that are 30 years beyond their lives?"

Until Hammond took action, there was no plan to replace the Steel Electrics, even though ferry planners had spent $10 million since 2003 on consultants and other advisers.

Years of hull survey reports, studies and repair bills raised questions about the old vessels. But lawmakers and others repeatedly deferred to the ferry system and the Coast Guard for a ruling on whether the boats remained safe to operate. As recently as Oct. 30, legislators were told the hulls were "generally in good condition."

Gregoire, who was among the leaders who previously touted the Steel Electrics' safety, on Thursday offered an opposite view.

Imagine the tragedy, she told a crowd gathered at a Seattle shipyard, if one of the hulls had failed with people aboard.

The governor also announced a deal with Pierce County's ferry system to borrow a vessel that is expected sometime in January to re-establish car ferry service between Keystone on Whidbey Island and Port Townsend. State ferry officials earlier had evaluated the Steilacoom II-class ferry and determined it wouldn't be a good fit. That type of vessel is now the design that Hammond, an engineer, has endorsed as permanent replacement for the Steel Electrics. She wants three.

Ferry system leaders in 2004 stymied attempts by the State Auditor's Office to pursue a whistle-blower investigation into the safety of the Steel Electrics. When word got out this summer, ferry leaders initially tried to deny that State Auditor Brian Sonntag was thwarted.

"You look backward with a sigh of relief that nothing bad happened," Sonntag said Friday. "We have an opportunity to move forward to get the right boats and make the right fit in the communities."

Hammond has a rare chance to lead the state toward fixing myriad problems facing the ferry system, not just what to do with its oldest boats, Sonntag said.

"I think the legislative leadership has the sense that this is a big deal and now is the time to get it right," he said.

Why the state didn't replace the Steel Electrics long ago is a complicated and often contentious tale. It brings together some of the most vexing troubles facing the state transportation system, including problems with lack of funding, and an addiction to process.

Ferry officials bend history when they suggest lawsuits and community opposition to terminal expansion plans on Whidbey Island and in Port Townsend are key reasons the state failed to replace its oldest boats before they became dangerous.

State lawmakers approved the Steel Electrics' retirement in 2001, and provided money for replacements two years later. But ferry officials opted to build boats too large to work as replacements. They wanted vessels that could serve routes anywhere in the ferry system. To make that work, however, they needed to replace narrow, shallow Keystone Harbor, a place where only the Steel Electrics could operate safely.

The state spent six years and $5.5 million studying a new Keystone terminal before abandoning the idea this spring. They blamed community opposition. The new terminal was estimated to cost $1 billion over 30 years. It would have served about 3 percent of ferry system passengers.

The ferry system's handling of contracts for new vessels was halted for four months in 2005 while Tacoma's J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp. went to court and convinced a judge the ferry officials had illegally excluded the shipyard from bidding on the project. No other lawsuits came until summer 2006. That's when Martinac went to state court, and lost, challenging the ferry system's authority to build boats too large to fit Keystone Harbor. Martinac also filed a federal lawsuit, alleging the state's handling of the ferry contract constituted civil racketeering. That case is still pending, but inactive.

Former transportation chief MacDonald said the problems facing the ferry system are easy to understand and hard to solve. Costs of building, preserving, repairing and operating are immense and rising fares don't cover the tab, he said.

MacDonald said he understands the desire to blame is "a natural reaction born of frustration that there are no simple answers and no painless answers."

However, lawmakers aren't being honest if they claim to have been surprised by problems, he said.

"I think, at times, the Legislature has tried to help. But for them to wake up today and say they didn't understand there is a problem with the Steel Electrics is really a stretch," MacDonald said.

Haugen, whose district includes Keystone, said pointing fingers at the Legislature would be wrong.

"You've got to understand we're citizen legislators. We're not engineers," Haugen said.

She is a central figure in the extended drama. As chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee, she writes the budget for the ferry system. The Legislature's ability to write budgets, effectively controlling the ferry system's purse strings, is something MacDonald said should not be forgotten.

Haugen said she's learned that the state must come up with firm retirement dates for its ferries.

"We have to know when a boat gets to an X-year-old we have to move to replace it. We've got a whole lot of boats that are old," she said.

A consultant hired by the Legislature to help it retool the ferry system has identified vessel replacement as one of the system's most critical problems. Over the next three dozen years, the state likely will need to replace 18 of the 21 ferries now sailing. The consultant questioned the ferry system for putting more emphasis on building new terminals than replacing old ferries, particularly when money is tight.

That focus will change, Hammond said.

She will pick the state's next ferry chief, replacing Mike Anderson, who retires Dec. 31. On Friday, she appointed Steve Reinmuth, chief of staff at the state transportation department, as acting director.

It's not an easy time at the ferry system, but Hammond is winning support from people at all levels of the operation, said Traci Brewer-Rogstad, deputy director of the ferry system.

People are impressed with her swift action in replacing the state's oldest boats and moving ahead to build new ferries.

"Some tough decisions are getting made," Brewer-Rogstad said.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA