Under the old adage, “Lead, follow or get out of the way.” I hope that if the state abandons the foot ferries in June as threatened, it will allow private operators to have a go at making a profit.

The reason you don’t see any private operators now is that the law bans running private ferries within ten miles of any existing route, which takes in all of Puget Sound.

I confess to having written recently that while I was opposed to discontinuance of the foot ferries. I also was opposed to private takeover, but that needs a little explaining.

My opposition is to having the taxpayers of Kitsap County pay for operation of a mosquito fleet. We are being asked to approve .3 of a cent sales tax in November, revenue from which would be funneled through Kitsap Transit, the public bus company here, which will then find a private operator to run new, smaller boats (no damaging wake) after they are built. Why just us?

It seems strange to me that so little is said about including in this deal the counties on both ends of each route, rather than just Kitsap as if we were the yoyo. I regard the ferry system as a state obligation, and the state should find a way to make it work.

When the state bought the Blackball fleet from Capt. Alex Peabody back in 1951, the agreement included leaving the hiring of crews to the unions. It is virtually impossible to run boats at peak hours and tie up during the slack times. A full shift is a full shift. Flexibility should be allowed.

Lifting the ten-mile ban was one of the recommendations of the Washington Policy Center in its recent offering of strategies for budget reform. “Repealing the ban would open the way for new ideas, new investment and more efficient operations at no risk to the public,” said policy analyst Eric Montague. “If the state can no longer carry passengers across the Sound, it should at least step aside and let private companies offer the service.”

The way it is now, said Montague, “the ferries are incredibly inefficient. They still don’t have automated ticket service after all these years.” That’s nothing, I said. The state auditor complains every year about lack of controls over ticket collections, so misappropriation of public funds could occur without it being detected in a timely manner, if at all. Those are the auditor’s words.

Anyway, Bremerton downtown businesses, the few that are left since the bulk of them packed up and moved to Silverdale, desperately want the foot ferry service to continue, anticipating not just service for commuters to Seattle, but a thriving tourist trade from Megalopolis in the off hours.

Two bills are before the Legislature One lifts the ban on the 10-mile rule, allows private operators to use the state’s terminals, docks, etc., and sets up future authority for private service. The other authorizes establishment of public transit benefit districts which may use any of the following revenue sources: A sales tax up to 0.4 percent, a motor vehicle excise tax of up to 0.4 percent, tolls for passengers and parking and auto charges or license fees for advertising or leasing space. Voter approval is required. Service within the district is not bound by the 10-mile rule.

Both bills could make it, says Rep. Beverly Woods, R-Poulsbo, sponsor of the one that just removes the ban, “but my confidence is not great that the people will vote to tax themselves for foot ferries. If the district bill passes, it gives them a chance to vote twice (in the fall on the .3 percent sales tax for Kitsap Transit, then if that fails, in the spring on the transit district bill).

She thinks a mosquito fleet could be very popular if allowed to be innovative, e.g., trips between Tacoma and Seattle, but the unions are grumbling and they could kill the whole thing. Also, her bill says the state SHALL allow private operators to use the state’s infrastructure and the state wants to make that “may.” That means the state could pull the rug out from under the whole shebang at any time. “We don’t want may,” said Woods.

Oh well, not to worry. I don’t think there’s a chance the people will vote for either the sales tax or the benefit district. Ferries are a state obligation and the state should step up to it.

(Adele Ferguson can be reached at P.O. Box 69, Hansville, Wa., 98340.).