Subject: Re: Schwarzenegger for NYC Mayor? Vote "No" Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 15:41:34 -0500 To: "Mr. Melody \(R\)" From: Bob Armstrong On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 05:50:41 -0800 (PST), Mr. Melody \(R\) wrote: >=A0I don't believe Scwarzfuka won Denial of reality . > &=A0I don't belioeve he'll last more than a few months in= Sacramento if at all. I'd bet you if you had any money . > Waddya think of Ferry 'Accident' ? From Henry Stern : >=A0>=A0From:=A0Henry J. Stern >=A0>=A0=A0Subject:=A0Captains, Crews and Managers >=A0>=A0=A0Date:=A0Wed, 22 Oct 2003 17:14:33 -0400 >=A0>=A0=A0=A0=A0To:=A0 >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0The Captains Blundered, >=A0>=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0But So Did Their Bosses >=A0>=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0October 22, 2003 >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0One week ago, a crowded Staten Island ferry, with no one at= the controls, crashed at full speed into a concrete >=A0>=A0pier 500 feet from the ferry slip where it should have= docked. =A0Ten people were killed, forty injured, and hundreds >=A0>=A0shaken. >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0Until today, the two pilots who were supposed to be= steering the vessel have avoided being questioned by the >=A0>=A0National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating= the tragedy with all deliberate speed. =A0But this is not >=A0>=A0TWA Flight 800, where the cause of the disaster was a= mystery; this case is self-evident: no one was steering the >=A0>=A0boat. >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0As often occurs, once an organization experiences an= enormous failure, inquiries point out many deficiencies >=A0>=A0above and beyond the immediate cause of the accident. =A0There= have long been hints of corruption and >=A0>=A0incompetence in the management of the ferry. =A0The politics of= the ferry is exposed in an article in today's New >=A0>=A0York Observer by Jim Callaghan >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0A weakness in the piece is that Callaghan blames people= indiscriminately. =A0For example, on learning of the >=A0>=A0tragedy, Mayor Bloomberg immediately left the World Series= game, helicoptered to Staten Island, and comforted >=A0>=A0victims and mourners. =A0It was not wrong for him to attend a= subsequent game. =A0I also believe the city's competing >=A0>=A0newspapers are doing a good job in following up on the= disaster. =A0This story, as they say, has legs. >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0The few overstatements aside, the article is well worth= reading as a collection of healthy dirt on the ferry's >=A0>=A0operation over the years. =A0If more than half the story is= true, and I believe it is, Callaghan presents a chilling >=A0>=A0indictment of the abdication by city authorities of their= responsibilities, and the delegation, knowing or unknowing, >=A0>=A0of ferry appointments and management to patronage-hungry= local politicians. =A0It leads one to ask whether people >=A0>=A0who are tied to the political system can undo the damage this= historic mismanagement has done to the city. >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0This is a good time to renew the suggestion that the= privatization of the Staten Island ferry be considered. =A0Why >=A0>=A0should deckhands be public employees, protected by civil= service regulations and labor agreements, nearly >=A0>=A0impervious to discipline, and royally rewarded for their= tasks? =A0In Parks, we privatized our thirteen golf courses, >=A0>=A0and it was an enormous success in added revenues for the= city, and substantially increased usage by golfers. =A0Is >=A0>=A0socialism really the best system to operate a ferryboat? >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0The management issues were not helped by the assignment of= the current director of ferries, a longtime >=A0>=A0bureaucrat at DOT who had not been particularly effective in= a more important position that he previously held. >=A0>=A0The Staten Island ferry should not be treated as a pasture,= to which less effective managers are sent to await >=A0>=A0retirement. =A0The manager's supervisor, a deputy commissioner,= has held that position in the last two >=A0>=A0administrations. =A0Did he ever interest himself in what was= happening on the boats, and if so, what did he do about >=A0>=A0it during the years of his tenure? =A0Let's find out. >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0The negligent conduct on the ship may go beyond the= captains. =A0Although the failure to turn off the engines >=A0>=A0occurred near a buoy which was a considerable distance from= the dock, none of the crew appears to have >=A0>=A0intervened effectively as the ship approached the concrete= pier at full power. >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0Park Rule 16-J: Nobody Does It Once. =A0It is highly unlikely= that the 3 o'clock boat last Wednesday was the >=A0>=A0first time in ferry history that there was only one man in= the pilothouse during a docking. =A0It is more likely that, >=A0>=A0despite the rules, the captains accommodated each other, and= hung out in other parts of the boat while not >=A0>=A0actually. =A0steering. =A0In the great city in which we live, and= in many other places as well, there is the thick book of >=A0>=A0rules and regulations, and then there is the reality of what= is usually done. =A0Rule and reality can be very far apart. >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0I am particularly curious about the way a relatively young= man, Captain Gansas, a 38-year-old performer in a >=A0>=A0rock and roll band, could acquire the senior position of= Captain, a job one associates with old salts. =A0How did he >=A0>=A0get the job in the first place? Did he take a competitive= examination for Captain? =A0Were there other applicants? >=A0>=A0Did others know the job was available? =A0Who recommended him= to DOT? =A0On what basis was he selected? =A0And >=A0>=A0by whom? (Capt. Gansas was suspended today by Commissioner= Weinshall for failure to cooperate with the >=A0>=A0investigation. =A0Why not dismiss him before he qualifies for a= city pension?) >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0The inquiries should explore these issues. =A0The immediate= cause is apparent, but there are more important >=A0>=A0questions as to how these two men, who have eluded the= inquiry, at least until today, get to be placed in charge of >=A0>=A0a ship which carried thousands of passengers, whose lives and= safety were entrusted to their care. >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0There was once a naval tradition that the captain goes down= with the ship. =A0That is not necessary today; we >=A0>=A0have too much respect for life. =A0But I have never heard of a= captain of a large vessel acting like a hit and run >=A0>=A0driver, and fleeing the scene of a maritime accident. =A0If= Captain Smith indeed blacked out, as is claimed on his >=A0>=A0behalf because he is too ill to discuss the matter, he would= have had scant reason to flee. This is not an EgyptAir >=A0>=A0situation, it is most unlikely that Smith deliberately= steered into the dock. =A0But there are other possibilities, he= could >=A0>=A0have fallen asleep or become distracted in another way, not= realizing what was happening to the ferry. >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0Is it not shocking to you that, after such a disaster,= Captain Smith completely abandoned his responsibility to the >=A0>=A0passengers--the dead, the dying, the amputees, the injured,= and the frightened--and ran from the scene like a >=A0>=A0thief? =A0The Daily News headline aptly summed it up in rhyme,= "10 Dead, He Fled." What rule of the sea was he >=A0>=A0following? =A0Who is Smith anyway, who recommended him, who= hired him and why? =A0What was the real story the >=A0>=A0last time he smashed into the St. George dock? >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0We should be told, promptly, whether the NTSB will study= the underlying causes of the disaster, including >=A0>=A0operations of the ferry. =A0If that is not within the scope of= their inquiry, a special prosecutor should be appointed, >=A0>=A0because otherwise the case would be under the Staten Island= District Attorney, an able and highly-regarded >=A0>=A0person, leaving office December 31 with honor and part of the= same political system which, it is alleged, >=A0>=A0manipulated the ferry system for its own enrichment. >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0For the sake of the dead, the injured and the living who= rely on the ferry to get to work or school every day, let >=A0>=A0justice be done. >=A0> >=A0>=A0Henry J. Stern >=A0>=A0New York Civic >=A0>=A0520 Eighth Avenue, Room 2205 >=A0>=A0New York, NY 10018 >=A0>=A0(212) 564-4441 >=A0>=A0StarQuest@nycivic.org >=A0> >=A0>=A0=A0=A0=A0www.nycivic.org > Did younsee me last week on Law&=A0order? Sorry , not something I watch . --=A0 =A0Bob Armstrong -- http://CoSy.com -- 212-285-1864 Computing Environment : =A0http://CoSy.com/CoSy/ A WTC vision : http://CoSy.com/CoSy/ConicAllConnect/ Liberty : http://CoSy.com/Liberty.htm Restore our Right to Relax : =A0http://ny.lp.org/cgi-bin/petition.cgi?Against_the_Smoking_Ban =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A02003/11/06 3:36:43 PM