Inspector General, Legislators Hear Islanders’ SSA Concerns

Massachusetts Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro paid a formal visit to Martha’s Vineyard Monday to discuss his bombshell investigation into the Steamship Authority’s expensively botched website project.

Speaking at Oak Bluffs town hall alongside Steamship Authority general manager Alex Kryska and their hosts for the event, state Sen. Julian Cyr and state Rep. Thomas Moakley, Mr. Shapiro called for the boat line to mend its ways.

“The wastefulness and poor decision-making must stop,” said Mr. Shapiro, whose December report took the Steamship Authority board and then-general manager Robert Davis severely to task for squandering millions of dollars on a misconceived effort to build the boat line’s new website without first addressing its decrepit reservations system.

Steamship Authority management also blundered by assigning the website project to the communications department, instead of the information technology department where it belonged, Mr. Shapiro said.

And Mr. Davis did not keep the governing board abreast of the project’s status and costs, while board members failed to ask for more information, Mr. Shapiro said.

“As the project dragged on and repeated requests for additional funds were made, the unrealistic assurances that the website would launch soon became a chorus to a very bad song,” he said.

It’s an old song, too, Mr. Shapiro said, going back to a 1985 report on the Steamship Authority by the state’s first inspector general, Joseph Brady.

“He said, and I quote ‘Adequate management, supervision and oversight was totally missing. And when that is the case, waste is almost inevitable,’” Mr. Shapiro said.

“Forty-one years later I am saying, in essence, the same thing,” he said.

During public comments, Islander Gail Barmakian said the Brady report did lead to some changes at the Steamship Authority in the years after its release.

“I remember that there was some attention paid, and that the operations did improve quite a bit, but then again, things become lax,” she said.

“Oftentimes it needs something like this to shake [things] up and to operate much, much better,” Ms. Barmakian said.

The topic of limiting Steamship Authority board members’ terms also came up during public comments, which took both sides.

Former Dukes County commissioner Leon Brathwaite argued that term limits would take away local municipalities’ choice on who and when to appoint to the board.

Current Dukes County commissioner Doug Ruskin supported the limits in a letter read by commission chair Christine Todd.

“Imposing term limits will require the appointing authorities to think through the process carefully and actively seek qualified applications,” Mr. Ruskin wrote.

A bill filed last summer by state Sen. Dylan Fernandes would limit each board member to three three-year terms.

Sen. Cyr, however, said that the limits may not be needed to achieve the desired result of more frequent board changes.

“We are seeing turnover on this board,” he said, citing the recently-appointed Dukes County representative, Ted Gavin, who was in attendance.

“Ted really has some deep, specific expertise, and … my understanding is that the New Bedford seat is also now open. So I think we’re also seeing sort of a real change of the makeup of this board,” he said. 

Sen. Cyr had harsher words for the board’s decision retaining Mr. Davis, at the same rate of pay he earned as general manager, to be a special advisor with an 18-month contract.

“I was very unhappy with this sweetheart deal, which I think is a very poor form of governance,” he said.

Mr. Shapiro also criticized the arrangement, saying that 18 months was far too long for a transitional advisor.

Mr. Kryska, however, called Mr. Davis a valuable resource with 40 years of experience.

“He’s dedicated, truly, dedicated his life to the Steamship Authority,” he said, adding that Mr. Davis has no decision-making authority.

“Currently, he is one of many advisors that I have [and] I am sure as heck not going to throw away that advice, because it comes with a lot of knowledge,” Mr. Kryska said.

Mr. Shapiro expressed guarded optimism about the Steamship Authority’s potential to achieve meaningful change under Mr. Kryska’s management.

“His vast skills, experience and education as a maritime leader clearly indicate a new day of innovation and a fresh perspective for the Steamship Authority,” the inspector general said.

The two are scheduled to meet later this month to discuss how the authority will respond to Mr. Shapiro’s report, which Mr. Kryska said he is taking as a road map toward lasting improvement at the Steamship Authority.

“We need to be thoughtful, responsive, transparent and collaborative, [and] we really need to be partners with our communities,” Mr. Kryska said.

About 60 Islanders turned out in person for Monday’s event and another 50 people, both on and off the Vineyard, took part by videoconference.

That’s far more than a similar forum on Nantucket drew  last week, Sen. Cyr told the combined group.

“I think we had less than a handful of folks,” he said.

This article appears in April 17, 2026.