The Office of the Inspector General has released a scathing new report on what it calls an “ill-conceived” and “poorly executed” website development project by the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority (SSA) that wasted as much as $4 million in public funds.

The Inspector General’s investigation was launched in response to media reports and public concerns related to numerous crashes of the SSA’s website. Responsible for a vast majority of ferry traffic to and from Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, the frequent issues with the website have caused massive scheduling delays and backups during the busiest months of the summer.

“The OIG found that in attempting to address the problem, the SSA and its Board made a critical misstep in prioritizing a website redevelopment project instead of a badly needed overhaul of the underlying ferry reservations system,” the Inspector General’s Office said in a press release. “The OIG determined that the website project, begun in 2022, wasted at least $2 million – and possibly as much as $4 million or higher – before it was ultimately shelved.”

The investigation found the ultimate failure of the website redesign project was “rooted in the failure” of SSA General Manager Bob Davis and the SSA Board of Governors to execute their duties and responsibilities. Davis will retain his current pay as he moves to a “senior advisor” role and will be replaced in January by Alex Kryska, the former COO of a San Francisco Ferry Service.

We identified a troubling pattern of poor project leadership and decision-making that we believe wasted at least $2.3 million and could be $4.1 million or more,” Inspector General Jefferey Shapiro told the Herald, explaining the higher price tag could come if the website is ultimately unsalvageable. “Based on mismanagement in the ways that have already happened, there has been $2.3 million in public funds wasted because of that website.”

Davis was specifically pointed out in the report, which highlighted a number of errors made during the project that resulted in wasted money.

“The investigation found that the SSA’s general manager (1) did not follow the advice of a 128-page consultant report from 2018 that characterized the SSA’s antiquated reservation system as a substantial risk; (2) did not assign a project manager with the needed skills and experience to manage the website redesign; and (3) did not keep the Board informed on key decisions as the project fell behind schedule and consistently incurred additional costs,” the report said.

Shapiro says it all came down to a lack of understanding of technology by SSA leadership, citing the Authority’s decision to start working on a website overhaul rather than a focused revamp of its reservation system, appointing someone with a communications and marketing background to run the complicated IT project, and costly project delays, among other things.

In one instance, he says, General Manager Bob Davis pre-negotiated with the company contracted for the website overhaul for one year of service to fix it before it was even operational. Shapiro says Davis then used money reserved for the website project to pay for the year of maintenance.

“In essence, they stole money from pocket to pay the other. They spent a years-worth of maintenance for a project that wasn’t even built,” said Shapiro. “It goes back to core fundamentals: They didn’t understand what they were doing, they had the wrong people there, the general manager gave partial information at best, the members of the board forgot a fundamental fact that the general manager works for them and not vice versa, logical questions that should have been asked weren’t.”

The SSA is not answering to any of the allegations laid out in the Inspector General’s report, instead issuing a statement acknowledging it received the report.

“The Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority is in receipt of the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General report on its website development project and is thoroughly reviewing the extensive document. As we have only recently received the report, we are unable to comment on specifics until that review is complet,” said SSA Communications Director Sean Driscoll.

The Inspector General’s Office also expressed concern that Davis is moving into a “senior advisor” position that he says “could prove to be an obstacle” for the incoming general manager.

“Aside from the question of why the Board approved the employment agreement, the role’s designated responsibilities cover three areas in which the current general manager has not demonstrated strength: strategic planning, project management, and implementing large projects,” the report said.

“Further, retaining the current general manager as an “advisor” has the potential to impede the new general manager from setting his course for the SSA. Another problematic element is that the senior advisor can resign and collect significant compensation if the incoming general manager exercises his prerogative to limit or change the senior advisor’s responsibilities,” it continued.

The report calls on the SSA and its Board to conduct a “sweeping review” of its project planning, execution, and oversight practices, and recommends the state Legislature evaluate the Authority’s 65-year-old enabling statute and consider ways to improve oversight of a significant public resource.