As the Press Herald reports (“Island communities ask Gov. Mills to intervene to get ferry service back on track,” July 24), there have been cancellations of ferry services to various Maine islands because of problems related to hiring and retaining crew members. Those problems, in turn, are because of pay, as well as licensing requirements.

A number of board members have appealed to the governor to address the problem.

It is at least possible that part of the problem involves the fact that, unlike for Chebeague Island, the Penobscot islands ferry service is operated by the Maine Department of Transportation.

An alternative approach would involve “every tub on its own bottom.” At Harvard University, this means that each school of the university is “an independent entity, responsible for its own management and funding.” The fact that the Maine State Ferry Service receives an abundance of its revenue from the gas tax would, of course, complicate any move towards independence.

William Vaughan, Jr.
Chebeague Island