Steamship Authority Board Members Clash Over Chief Executive Officer
Role

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Struggling with issues of governance and lines of authority, a
sharply divided Steamship Authority board of governors failed to find
common ground yesterday in an executive session that will ultimately
determine the future for boat line chief executive officer Fred C.
Raskin, who has been on the job for just four months.

The boat line board voted 2-1 to take the first steps toward what
could lead to Mr. Raskin's departure, the Gazette has learned.

Vineyard SSA governor Kathryn A. Roessel, who cast the dissenting
vote, said yesterday that she had decided to speak out about the
executive session discussion, which took place without Mr. Raskin
present. The executive session followed the monthly board meeting on
Nantucket. The public portion of the meeting was marked by a relatively
short and routine business agenda, although there was some discussion
about the need to move forward on a growing list of longer-range
projects.

Ms. Roessel later outlined her own disagreement with the other two
board members over questions of governance and how the board and chief
executive officer divide responsibilities and authority.

Disagreements between board members and Mr. Raskin have been
building behind the scenes since he first took the job.

Mr. Raskin was hired in April after an eight-month search. He
replaced general manager Armand Tiberio, who resigned in September after
six years on the job. During the search process to find a replacement
for Mr. Tiberio, the boat line board decided to change the job title
from general manager to CEO.

The change in title was accompanied by a hefty salary hike -
Mr. Raskin is paid an annual salary of $170,000, while Mr. Tiberio was
paid about $90,000.

Mr. Raskin came on the job amid an auspicious new outlook for the
boat line that has been buffeted by political problems and board
turnover in the last year.

But there was trouble from the start when Mr. Raskin began to clash
with individual board members; most of the collisions were over small
issues, but soon larger questions began to surface about lines of
authority between the board and the CEO.

Two months ago the board began to talk about the problems with Mr.
Raskin in executive session. The talks were in fact precipitated by Mr.
Raskin, who wrote a letter to board chairman and Falmouth governor Galen
Robbins about the problems. In the letter Mr. Raskin raised questions
about whether the board had overstepped its authority, possibly in
violation of his contract.

In early July Ms. Roessel wrote her own letter to the other two
board members outlining her concerns.

Yesterday Ms. Roessel said the executive session began on a somewhat
sour note when the members of the financial advisory board were asked to
leave. She said board members then began to have a frank discussion with
Mr. Raskin about governing responsibilities, sparked in part by a
memorandum written by Mr. Robbins.

"Fred looked at it and said, ‘This is good; I think it
says that the board does the ends and it should be the responsibility of
the CEO to get the means.' It seemed like it was heading in a good
direction," Ms. Roessel said.

She said things came to a head after Mr. Raskin was asked to leave
the room.

The board took a series of votes, first on whether board conduct has
been intrusive (the board voted 2-1 that it had not, with Ms. Roessel
dissenting). Ms. Roessel proposed that the board hold another meeting in
a week to continue the talks, but she said her proposal was voted down
by Mr. Robbins and Nantucket governor Grace Grossman.

Then she said Mr. Robbins moved to have an attorney contact Mr.
Raskin's attorney. "The idea was to have this attorney get
in touch with Fred's attorney and tell him we don't want to
stay with the CEO model," Ms. Roessel said.

"I just want to say that I am really heartbroken about this; I
really thought we were making progress - I was hopeful that we
were making progress," she said.

"I was so proud that we found such a good executive and now I
just don't know what we are going to do next. Where do we go from
here? I think we have created a terrible leadership vacuum and I am not
sure what's going to happen," she added.

Reached at his home in Andover last night, Mr. Raskin had little
comment.

"I have nothing to say. I raised an issue with the board and I
am ready to further discuss the issues," he said.

Mrs. Grossman said the vote taken yesterday was not about
terminating Mr. Raskin.

"The vote was that the lawyer is to go to Fred and his lawyers
and say that he has a choice: He can accept the fact that we are the
Authority and he works for us or we will give him an exit
package," Mrs. Grossman said.

"If he agrees to our terms that we are the Authority and he is
to abide by our rules, then okay. If he won't, then we will go
ahead with an exit package. He has a choice," she added.

Mr. Robbins was sharply critical of Ms. Roessel for jeopardizing the
outcome of delicate contract talks by going public out of executive
session.

"I think Cassie's behavior is despicable and I am very,
very disappointed. It puts us all in a very difficult position, and it
puts Fred in a very difficult position," Mr. Robbins said.

He was also critical of Mrs. Grossman.

"Grace and Cassie are in their corners and they are dug in.
Cassie and Grace are both rigid and neither is correct. This has nothing
to do with Fred and it has everything to do with the board," Mr.
Robbins said.

He also defended his decision to exclude the financial advisory
board from the executive session.

"Fred Raskin is in a difficult spot and I thought a smaller
group was better. It turned out it was an error in judgment on my part
that I thought the remaining board members could discuss a sensitive
issue, a contractual issue and feel confident that it would not escape
until it was necessary," he said.

Mr. Robbins reserved his sole words of praise for Robert
O'Brien, the nonvoting member of the board from Barnstable.

"Bob O'Brien was the only one who rose above it all. It
comes down to governance and we are at a crossroads. We need to do all
these things, but we aren't going to get there if the board
continues on this path," he said.