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To the Editor,
Mr. Brian Murphy’s letter in support of his wife, Melissa Murphy, is laughable, considering the quite testy text exchange I had with Ms. Murphy yesterday, Mother’s Day. But first some background –
Several years ago, after a Town Meeting session, Ms. Murphy posted a question TO ME on Facebook, Reading Parents Network, asking me about a motion I had made at Town Meeting, which she apparently didn’t like. It created quite a stir, and there were dozens and dozens of divisive comments that followed. My son called me at work, and told me that someone had posted about me, and asked if I knew Melissa Murphy. I did not.
Other Town Meeting members asked Ms. Murphy why she had posted this directed just to me, as others had supported my motion. They also asked her why she hadn’t reached out to me privately, and just sent me a message. She had no response. She appeared to just want to kick up a storm. When I got home after work, I posted this response – “Melissa, Just seeing all this after a long day at work… my (home) phone number is 781-944-7539. Be happy to answer any questions you have regarding my request… Going out for a walk, but I will be home this evening, and much of the day tomorrow.”
Melissa never called me. I never heard from her. I wasn’t surprised. I don’t think she really cared to speak to me or wanted to really understand my motivation, I think she wanted to just call me out and create division amongst Town Meeting members. After that, I blocked Ms. Murphy on Facebook, and had no contact with her, until yesterday. I thought it was quite rich when she offered her own phone number during the Candidates’ Forum, and it reminded me of her Facebook post to me.
Several days ago, someone one Facebook (whom I have been told is her campaign manager) stated that Ms. Murphy has reached out to me several times, but that I have ignored Ms. Murphy’s overtures. I typed that the person was a liar, Ms. Murphy has never reached out to me personally, and asked Ms. Murphy to set the record straight. (I know, I need a Facebook rest, but it WAS a lie, and it was the Rant…) Ms. Murphy texted me late Saturday evening, and offered to talk to me. My response was, “Who gave you my cell phone number?” She wouldn’t tell me. On the morning of Mother’s Day she wrote, “Good morning Angela. I’m not sure why that matters. I was reaching out to discuss what was on Facebook…” As I don’t share my cell number with everyone, I was curious who had given it to her. It is a simple question. She texted me two more times during the day, each text was more aggressive. I wrote to her, “I’d be happy to speak with you after you tell me who gave you my number.” She accused me of wanting to “attack them” (the person who shared the number, not true), told me I was being “petty”, and wrote “It’s not like I couldn’t have gotten your number from town public records.” She still hasn’t divulged who shared my number with her, which I believe am entitled to know.
If this is how Ms. Murphy behaves when asked where she got a cell phone number from, I can’t even imagine how she would behave if she were a Select Board member and she was speaking to constituents with whom she might disagree over important town matters like the site of a senior/community center, or a debt exclusion. That possibility frankly scares me. I imagine Brian Murphy thinks that I am one of the persons his wife has so generously reached out to. If this is how Ms. Murphy reaches out, with passive-aggressive texts on Mother’s Day, then please put me on Ms. Murphy’s “do not call” list.
Sincerely,
Angela Binda
Orchard Park Drive
