The following op-ed was written by Pamela Julian’s son Anthony Byrne and daughter Courtney Byrne:
The local community newspapers owned by GateHouse Media, Inc., particularly the Brookline Tab and West Roxbury Transcript, have insulted their readers yet again. As the son and daughter of State Representative candidate Pamela Julian, we have witnessed biased and/or negligent reporting of this campaign from the beginning. We expected either the Tab or Transcript or both to endorse Kelly Tynan or Paul Sullivan. Why? They published nearly ten op-eds between Tynan and Sullivan while ignoring the multiple op-eds submitted by my mother, Pamela Julian. In fact, the Tab did not print my mother’s announcement of her candidacy. They printed all the others. The Tab even published a picture of Tynan during the Brookline forum despite my mother Pamela Julian being the only candidate from Brookline.
Furthermore, the Transcript reported, “Julian has some good ideas, including encouraging rent-to-own housing. But she gives no indication of being able to work with other legislators to turn those proposals into policy.” That is a false statement. Our mother Pamela Julian is the only candidate to author legislation, a student voter registration bill pending in New York, Massachusetts, and at the federal level. She worked on the bill with State Senator Cindy Creem in Massachusetts and State Senator Jeff Klein in New York. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois has sponsored the bill at the federal level. Why did the Transcript count city counselors as legislators but not state and U.S. senators? The local community newspapers knew all of this but chose not to report it. We, along with other supporters of my mother Pamela Julian, included this information in various op-eds apparently rejected by the Tab and Transcript.
As a former library trustee chair, our mother Pamela Julian is also the only candidate who has ever held elected office. She recently started an after school reading program at the West Roxbury YMCA, continuing her commitment to young people. Our mother authored legislation, owned small businesses, operated a licensed after school child care program, developed real estate, hosted a CBS-affiliated political talk radio show, founded the Help Students Vote! Coalition, and raised a family as a single mother. Remind us again how Tynan, who worked as a teacher for only one year, “is most qualified to serve as the Parkway’s representative?” We do not appreciate the Transcript insulting the intelligence of its readers by coupling false statements with their endorsement.
Again, we expected the Tab or Transcript to endorse Tynan or Sullivan. Curiously, the Tab chose to endorse Matt Benedetti. We say curiously because the Transcript raised questions about Bob Joyce’s pro-life position. Does the editor of the Tab and Transcript, both owned by GateHouse Media, Inc., know that Benedetti is also pro-life along with Ed Coppinger… and Mike Rush? As usual, the Transcript endorsed Rush again. Four of the other candidates, including the supposedly progressive Tynan and Sullivan, supported Rush, allowing him to push his pro-life and anti-gay marriage agenda… and we do consider Rush’s support of multiple bills to diminish women’s right to choose as “an eagerness to relegislate settled issues.” As correctly reported by the Transcript, none of the other candidates would oppose Mike Rush now. The Transcript is confident that Tynan “will serve the Parkway while acting on her own conscience” but we are not and neither should the people of the 10th Suffolk District because we have seen nothing to lead us to believe otherwise.
We foolishly expected a bit more substance from the Boston Globe. Apparently, the Globe has no problem reaffirming stereotypes about the patronage and cronyism of Boston politicians. The newspaper we mistakenly considered superior to the Herald endorsed Coppinger. According to the Globe, Coppinger has “the financial background needed on Beacon Hill.” How did Mitt Romney, somebody with quite a bit more “financial background” than Coppinger, work out for Massachusetts?
Our mother Pamela Julian has owned her own businesses and she raised a family. As a single parent, she also knows the “economic strains on many of the areas families.” She has real solutions to the financial crisis like providing a circuit breaker and putting people to work winterizing homes throughout the district. It does not take a financial genius to realize that casinos act as a regressive tax on the poor. Other than Joyce, only our mother opposes casinos.
Finally, the Globe reported Coppinger that coached local sports teams. Our mother also coached youth soccer in the Brookline section of the 10th Suffolk District. She did that and a lot more considering she authored the student voter registration bill as a citizen. Civic engagement has always been at the center of my mother’s campaign. That is why she wants to establish a 10th Suffolk District Board to meet face to face and solve problems, an opportunity for citizens to participate for the first time.
