A Response to Ferry Line Idea
To the Editor:

In catching up with my mail after a month long trip to Florida and Louisiana, I recently came across a letter to the editor in the winter edition of The Mackinac Island Town Crier. The letter by a Frank Barkowski, whoever he is, would have us revert to a form of Communism where the government, in this case the City of Mackinac Island, would choose which ferry line it thought would best service the Island and by doing so would eliminate the other two. By the way, after many inquiries, I could not find anyone on Mackinac Island who had ever heard of a Mr. Frank Barkowski.

I have never written a letter to the editor in my life, but upon reading Mr. Barkowski’s distortions, I was compelled to write a rebuttal.

I will try to set the record straight by answering his letter paragraph by paragraph.

Paragraph I: He states that the City of Mackinac Island dictates ticket prices and schedules. Only the Michigan Public Service Commission does that.

Paragraph II: I couldn’t agree more.

Paragraph III: To my knowledge there has never been one million people visit Mackinac Island. I wish that were true. 1998 was the best season Mackinac has ever had. I think most businesses on the Island will attest to that. There were probably close to 900,000 people who visited the Island that year. Since the year 2000, there has been a steady decline in the number of visitors to Mackinac for a number of reasons, probably the least of which is the increase in ferry rates. Weather is by far the main reason that tourism is down. Last May was the wettest in Michigan’s history while June, July, and August were cool, to say the least. September, however, because of the beautiful summer weather, was the best September in our company’s history, and gas was over two dollars a gallon. Other reasons for tourists to go elsewhere is the competition from places like Mackinaw City, a destination in its own right; Cedar Point, where there’s thrills for the younger generation which Mackinac can’t compete with; and the fact that there has not been a heat wave in the Midwest since 1998, and we are back to the weather factor again.

Paragraph IV: I have no quarrel with the fact that three boat lines spend tens of thousands of dollars each year on advertising to bring tourists to the Island. Our philosophy is let them choose their ferry of choice once they arrive. Let’s just get them here first.

Paragraph V: I agree.

Paragraph VI: Arnold Line had chosen over a hundred years ago to make its headquarters on Mackinac Island. Shepler’s chose Mackinaw City and Star Line chose St. Ignace. We all hire local help where we can find them. Eighty percent of Star Line’s employees come from Mackinac, Emmet, or Cheboygan counties, all contributing to the local economy.

Paragraph VII: Star Line and Shepler’s will begin their season in late April of 2005. I don’t think there will be many tourists flocking to our docks at that time of year, nor in late October when we are still running. Star Line has no steel boats to crush through the late fall and early spring ice, but you can bet that if Arnold Transit discontinued the service, that one of the other two boat lines would find a way to service the Island. One of the main reasons Arnold Transit stopped running this past season was from a lack of business.

Paragraph VIII: This really smacks of Communism. I used to teach my students in social studies that America was built on the free market system, where competition is a healthy part of giving people choices at competitive prices. An example of how this works occurred during the winter of 1978, when commuter tickets to the Island residents went on sale for $70 for a 40-ride commuter book. I know, as I was one of three people who bought one. The other two were Jack Chambers and Aleda Schmidt. In May, when Star Line started operations out of St. Ignace for the first time, we sold a 40-ride book of commuter tickets for $40 dollars, a dollar a ride. And you, Mr. Barkowski, don’t want competition. Do you think there would be a free day each spring for the Island residents, complimentary tickets in the mail to most Island residents, or the controversy over the use of coreys (carts) on the streets as there is now if it weren’t for competition?

Paragraph IX: I take exception to this, Mr. Barkowski, as Star Line has always tried to be a worthy member of the community. Each year we contribute to the Medical Center, the hanging basket fund, the Island school students ride at no charge to their games and field trips, and yes, then there’s also the ferry franchise fee which last year generated over $100,000 to the city’s general fund, not to mention the 50¢ bicycle fee collected voluntarily by the three boat lines for the streets and sidewalk fund.

Paragraph X: I think my previous answers have pretty much covered this last paragraph. You want to end the free market system and replace it with a no-compete monopoly. They tried that once in Russia. It didn’t work!

Thomas Pfeiffelmann A real person whose residence is Mackinac Island Editor’s Note: Mr. Pfeiffel-mann is general manager of Star Line. We don’t know who Mr. Barkowski is, either.