Published: November, 2005
"It ain’t over ’til it’s over," with the Alcatraz contract, as our cover story, "The Big Game," makes plain. Still, the National Park Services’ decision to overturn precedent and negotiate with the upstart Hornblower Cruises in preference to the incumbent operator, The Blue and Gold Fleet, is stunning.
Seasoned waterfront watchers counted The Blue and Gold Fleet a shoo-in to be awarded an extension. Jaws are agape, up and down the waterfront, that a non-union operation might operate the marquee maritime contract. Harry Bridges, the Longshoreman who led the epochal 1936 San Francisco waterfront General Strike that launched unionism in America, must be spinning in his grave, like a propeller.
But even Blue & Gold must now concede that Hornblower’s Chief Executive, Terry MacRae, is at the very minimum a mighty good proposal writer. MacRae, a seasoned waterfront pro, with maritime operations around the country, is keeping mum about whatever sizzle he used to bedazzle National Park Service reviewers.
Much more is at stake than just the fortunes of two companies vying for a prize. The Alcatraz contract is fantastically lucrative, in effect the financial underpinning of all Bay ferry operations. Commuters should be concerned that several Blue & Gold boats do double duty on both Alcatraz and commuter runs. Blue & Gold also provides contract services for the Vallejo and Alameda/Oakland ferries, and it remains unclear what the ramifications for commuter service will be, if Hornblower prevails at the end of the day — though Blue & Gold executives, a stalwart bunch, assure Bay Crossings they’re in for the long haul, no matter what. And "the end of the day", by some savvy estimates, may run out as long as two years, as Blue & Gold pursues all its appeal options.
Safety is also a concern. Whatever one feels about unionism, ferryworkers and their unions take the lead on safety. In an era when regulators are all too pliable to the wishes of management to cut costs, ferryriders should be grateful for the vigilance of unions fighting for proper training and staffing levels aboard ferries. There have been horrific ferry accidents on San Francisco Bay, recent near misses, and the planned increase in ferry service raises the stakes. Now is not the time to ratchet down crew levels or safety standards aboard ferryboats. We trust neither the National Park Service nor Mr. MacRae has anything like that in mind.
Perhaps, finally, this turn of the screw will prompt a reexamination of what this page has long felt is the perverse attraction of Alcatraz. That seven out of 10 visitors fall over themselves to go there seems to fetishize what is, after all, a place of heartless punishment. The ferry ride and view back to the City, which we suspect, or at least hope, is the root attraction, is a gyp compared to taking a jaunt to Sausalito or just about any other ferryride on the Bay.
Better still, why not visit Angel Island? This expansive, unspeakably beautiful island stands essentially deserted most days of the year. Gorgeous winding trails, with history deeply imbedded – the "Ellis Island of the West" – an arrival depot for much of the Asian-American immigration to the U.S.
For this page, the most hopeful revelation of our cover story was to learn, the mania for Alcatraz is a relatively recent phenomenon. Just 30 years ago, only 50 people a day were going there, about the same number smart enough to head for Angel Island every day. May a trend to Angel Island start, now.
