A former resident makes a good point, a tourist missed the boat

I wrote about the Ferry announcement debacle here. Former Salem Resident Dave Bilodeau makes a very good point in the comments on that post that I think warrants repeating. Here it is:

Dave Bilodeau said...

As a former resident, I think some of you at times are too close to the situation to appreciate what seems to be some very good things happening in the city. I visit very little these days while I'm in Florida, but when I return there is always something new and good happening, especially in the downtown. The mayor deserves credit of course, but people sometimes overlook the long-time contributions of councilors who make a big difference. I'm speaking of course of Joan Lovely, who in my view has been as good if not better than any member of that body in the past 50 years.

Try not to focus on the day to day trivial dramas going on and be happy you have things like traffic and interest in the ferry. It's a good sign.

To Dave's point, I hope that I've been clear that I very much support the improvements that are being made to Blaney Street. As someone who lives nearby, and walks my dog there daily, improvements that discourage some of the sketchier activities that have been witnessed there is great. The same is true for improvements that make the ferry more attractive to commuters and tourists. Ferry ridership that has increased annually should be celebrated, especially now that their daily arrival won't create a dustbowl for the neighborhood.

My only point here is that the handling of the announcement of the delay was terrible. This was illustrated to me again when a friend and I were walking our dogs on Blaney Street Saturday morning, and we encountered some confused people from New Hampshire. They stopped us and asked what was going on with the ferry. We explained that the season had been delayed due to the construction. They were upset, as they had driven, as they put it, "100 miles to take the boat to Boston for the day." They also said that they had checked the schedule on the ferry website Wednesday night. We explained that the announcement wasn't made until Thursday. They were good sports about it, but were also annoyed at the late announcement. Their spirits were lifted when we told them they'd probably be able to catch a commuter rail train within an hour. It's people like this who are affected by things like this, and may remember Salem as the city that didn't tell them the boat wouldn't be running.

As to traffic, I've long held that a downtown traffic and parking problem is a good problem to have. Ask Peabody if they'd like to have people looking for parking spaces.

I also think Joan Lovely does a great job. She's not caught up with being pro-Driscoll, or anti-Driscoll, as several of her counterparts seem to be. She seems to just be pro-common-sense.

Slurp, slurp goes the Salem News

I see that Tom Dalton of the Salem News is certainly drinking the Kool-Aid.

His article in the snooze today starts as follows: "The monsoon spring has forced the Salem Ferry to postpone the start of the season for two weeks."

The monsoon spring where we've received less than normal rainfall totals? I hope they at least give Mr. Dalton a cookie and a "good boy" for toeing the line and spreading the lie. He goes on to talk about the seemingly endless rain. Other than a three day stretch (5 if you count the weekend days they didn't work) last week, it didn't happen.

Ferry delayed until June 11, city lacks transparency

Well that last post had the shortest shelf life ever.

Apparently the Ferry commuters will have to wait a few more weeks to enjoy the boat trip to Boston. The Salem Ferry has suspended service, with an estimated start date of June 11. Readers of this blog will know that I've told you the pier wouldn't be ready for weeks, at least. It was an aggressive deadline, and the Monday through Friday work has been vigorous. Several times recently it has continued past 7 or 8 at night. They took weekends off, and with the hours they put in I don't think you can really blame them. I do think you can fault the city for a near complete lack of transparency on this. As someone who, if forced to choose between Team Driscoll, and Team Anti-Driscoll, would readily admit to being Team Driscoll about 95% of the time. (I know this really disappoints some of you.) I totally believe in almost all of her vision for Salem. I've voted for her twice, and I'd do so again tomorrow.

That said ... the handling of the Ferry situation leaves a lot to be desired. Mayor Driscoll ran for mayor on a platform of openness, transparency, communication, and professionalism. It would appear that some pieces of that recipe were missing here. Announcing to the commuters who take it every day, and the concierges from Boston who were just in town to sample it, among other things, that the Ferry won't start tommorrow, and waiting until there were 24 hours left to do so, shows a lack of transparency, and a lack of "open communication with residents." Go back and look at the pictures I posted on May 16. It was crystal clear at that point (as well as a few weeks before, at least) that Blaney Street would not be ready for passengers on May 27. The contractors have been telling neighbors who inquired that they were two weeks behind for at least six weeks.