David Moseley, new ferries chief, says system must reconnect with angry riders

Published 11:24 pm Tuesday, March 4, 2008

SEATTLE — David Moseley, new director of Washington State Ferries, knows port from starboard; he knows where to find a ship’s bow and its stern.

The 30-year veteran of government jobs also knows he faces what he describes as “the ultimate career challenge” in trying to set a new course for the state’s troubled ferry system.

“This is a management and a leadership job,” he said Tuesday.

To set things right, Moseley said, the ferry system must reconnect with riders angry about rising fares and uncertain service and swiftly build six new ferries to replace aging, leaky vessels.

“Nothing will convey a return to public trust in this agency quite like getting those built on time and on budget,” he said.

Moseley, 60, officially began working at his new job Monday. He has worked for nonprofits and in city government posts in Federal Way and Ellensburg, but never in transportation.

When Moseley was appointed early last month, Gordon Baxter, a maritime labor lobbyist who represents all but a few dozen of the ferry’s system’s 1,600 union employees, said hiring outside the ferry system was the right move.

“We don’t care if someone knows a port from starboard,” Baxter said at the time. “We think it’s time to bring in someone from the outside who is a manager.”

Moseley said the ferry system has plenty of people with expertise in maritime matters. He plans to rely on their knowledge as well as what he can glean from listening to the concerns of ferry customers and lawmakers, to craft a plan for restoring public confidence.

He succeeds Mike Anderson, who retired in December after a year that saw the ferry system drift into turmoil over problems with corroding steel on aging vessels and increased questions about the fleet’s management and safety.

Ferry service has repeatedly been disrupted around Puget Sound since state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond’s Nov. 20 decision to pull four Steel Electric-class ferries out of concern over cracks and corrosion in their 1927-vintage hulls.

The vessels have since been retired, and the ferry system has struggled to meet stepped-up Coast Guard demands for inspection and repairs on the rest of the fleet.

Moseley said he’s convinced that experience overseeing municipal construction projects and in changing cultures within the city governments where he has worked will help him address the ferry system’s challenges.

He plans to spend a lot of time in the coming months visiting communities served by the ferry system, talking to employees and customers on the routes. He’s concerned about the ferry system’s finances, in particular its heavy reliance on revenue from passenger tolls, which now cover about 75 percent of operating costs.

Frequent ferry riders have been pressing for changes in the fare, and “we’ve probably gone as far as we can go in the foreseeable future in terms of fare box revenues,” Moseley said.

Hammond has promised changes for the ferry system, including a realignment to make it function less as a separate agency and more as a division of the state transportation department. Meanwhile, state lawmakers have been drafting legislation that mandate ferry officials develop vessel replacement plans, step up maintenance, and in at least one case, make deep cuts in staff and use of paid consultants.

Change is coming to the ferry system, he said, but he’s not yet certain what he’ll recommend.

“We have some tough problems and my task is to make sure we have the right people helping to inform our decisions,” he said.

Moseley was vice president for the Institute for Community Change in Seattle and was Federal Way city manager from 1999 to 2006.

Part of what he learned while in those jobs was the importance of focusing on the basics, he said.

“Here I think focusing on the basics really means insuring the safety and reliability of our vessels,” Moseley said.

Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.