Washington State Ferries is Sorry About Wasting Millions of Dollars

Aw...how can you stay mad at that view?

KING 5 isn't just "Get Jesse." They also go after big spenders on the government dime. A recent investigation called "Waste on the Water" (fire in the sky...whoops, that slipped out) found millions of dollars worth of missing cost-control oversight.

WSDOT, the no-cost-overruns people, have run Washington State Ferries for over half a century. In that time, they have regularly caught the public eye for wasting money. WSDOT Secretary Paula Hammond told KING 5 that she didn't know chief engineers were earning triple overtime for assigning themselves work during scheduled vacations, and earning up to $140 per hour. One engineer more than doubled his salary with overtime pay.

Google hits for "washington state ferries" and "reform"

What's the solution? KING says Secretary Hammond and possibly-still-Governor Gregoire are going to create a new staff position, a deputy ferries director. There'll be a "red flag" report, and an "expert panel," too. As you know, when it comes to changing an entrenched culture (Hammond's words), there's nothing like more managers, reports, and expert panels to turn things around. 

OUT OF SERVICE

The KING 5 story contains no mention of or input from WSF chief David Moseley, or the man he reports to, WSDOT COO David Dye. Moseley was hired to "transform the ferry system" in 2008--and he did try to get out in front of the story, noting that the bulk of WSF's costs are simply fleet and fuel bills.

I'm not sure how that argument is supposed to sound: "Just as we waste untold millions of dollars running jumbo ferries instead of passenger-only ferries on commuter routes, we also waste a good percentage on staff"?

There will also be a tip line, so if you see something, you can say something. For instance, if after the ferry system spends $5 million renovating the Seattle ferry terminal, and the automated ticket machines fail to work (all of them) on a given day, you'd want to tell someone. On a recent trip, when I mentioned to the ticket seller that the machines weren't functioning, she said, "Oh no, they're always down." In my experience, she's right, but there's never an out-of-service sign. 

In a sense, that sums up the larger problem with the ferry system. It's out-of-service, but it's not like anyone there gets paid to care about that. So long as the boats are running, the rest of us are just along for the ride.