I Double Dog Dare The Sun to Publish Jen Myer's LTE!

Dear Mr. Campanini,
I am writing in response to the inaccurate story by Lyle Moran that ran in Thursday January 23 edition of the Sun regarding former Mayor Patrick Murphy’s mayoral portrait.

It was reported in the story that I told Rodney Elliott that I was the photographer. I was not the photographer, nor did I tell him I was the photographer. Rather than confirming what Mr. Elliott told him, Mr. Moran wrote it up without attempting to contact me for confirmation.

I used to be a reporter at the Sun. I was a good reporter. Writing a published story is not about passing along unsubstantiated rumors and this story wasn’t Watergate; the fact checking is simple. You don’t just publish based on “well he told me.”


Additionally, the cost of the portrait was not $187 as was reported and it was taken in “Cat’s Alley” not “Catwalk Alley.” Additionally, the notion that there is no protocol of where the portrait is to be hung is absurd. It has been “tradition” if nothing else that the most recent former mayor’s portrait is hung on the wall next to the mayor’s office door on the second floor of City Hall.

While I was still working in the mayor’s office, Mr. Elliott asked me about the office budget. I told him of the line items for office supplies and office operations. I then mentioned that every two years there is a line item for the mayor’s portrait, which is budgeted at $3,000.

The city paid $3,000 for each of the prior mayor’s portraits in recent years. When Mayor Murphy heard that, he wanted to find a less expensive way to produce the portrait. I told Mr. Elliott that the idea of my taking the photo was kicked around, but it was ultimately shot by Lowell photographer Ashley Cantrell. It was then sent to an online company that puts images on canvas. Mr. Elliott then asked me which site we used because he is interested in having some of his family photos put on canvas. Including the eventual cost of a frame, Mayor Murphy’s portrait will cost about 25 percent of the previous portraits.

As far as some being “insulted” by Mayor Murphy’s portrait because he is turning his back, the people of Lowell should be more upset by a majority of the City Council who turned their backs on a citizen who stepped up to serve on the Library Board of Trustees and whose appointment was tossed aside out of petty politics.

The people of Lowell should be more insulted by a City Council that turns its back on the U.S. Constitution in insisting a religious display be placed on city property and a City Councilor who, on the Council floor, said anyone who doesn’t believe in God the way she does should move to another country.

Mayor Patrick Murphy served his city well. Whether you agreed with his style or his ideas or not he put a lot of time into serving the people of the city and made a lot of sacrifices. As was pointed out in the story, there are no written rules dictating the content of the mayoral portrait; therefore it is his call, not the call of the new mayor or the City Council.

Jennifer Myers
Former Mayor’s Aide