TV series prompts changes at state ferries

OLYMPIA — State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond on Wednesday announced changes at Washington State Ferries aimed at addressing waste and lack of accountability.

The changes come in the wake of a series of stories aired on KING-TV that found ferry employees on "special projects" had been paid to drive to and from work for years.

There was also a select group of engineers receiving out-of-control overtime, some averaging a 50 percent pay boost in the past few years through overtime.

One engineer saw a 107 percent pay increase, more than doubling his salary, KING-TV found.

Chief engineers raked in another kind of overtime — triple time — for working when they were scheduled to be on vacation. For some, that meant pay of $140 an hour.

Hammond said she and Gov. Chris Gregoire have instituted the following changes to address the issues:

• Hiring a deputy ferries director to hold managers more accountable.

• Implementing a new "red flag report" that will come out every quarter showing who's making questionable overtime and why.

• Stopping the costly travel-time perk for special projects, which has been in effect for 30 years.

• Requesting the Passenger Vessel Association's assistance in assembling an expert panel of ferry operators to conduct a management review. The Passenger Vessel Association is a national organization that "focuses on issues and concerns most relevant to owners and operators of passenger vessels," according to its website.

"We're not letting people get away with special deals, if it happened in the past, it's stopping now," Hammond said.