https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/homophobic-mail-friendly-stranger-1.6084783
This couple endured 5 years of homophobic mail — until a local sleuth tracked down a suspect
A Good Samaritan compared the harasser's handwriting to local voter signatures to pinpoint the alleged culprit
Five years after LeeMichael McLean and Bryan Furze first became targets of homophobic harassment by mail, the alleged culprit has been caught and their neighbours have rallied around them in solidarity.
The story starts five years ago, when the Milton, Mass., couple opened their mailbox and found a subscription to a publication they didn't order. It was addressed to a fake, and clearly homophobic, name.
At first, they figured it was a bizarre coincidence.
"A couple of days later, we received another one, and we knew that we had a problem," Furze told As It Happens guest host Nil Köksal. "And for the next five years, with a brief intermission during COVID, we received probably over 30 individual pieces of mail with different names that were pejorative and again, homophobic, in tone."
As It Happens has seen some of the fake names from the couple's mail, but has chosen not to repeat the homophobic content in this story.
Listen: LeeMichael McLean and Bryan Furze on their harassment, and community support:
7:35Massachusetts couple tells Nil Köksal how they finally found their harasser
It became clear to McLean and Furze that someone was targeting them with a campaign of harassment. But police told them there wasn't much they could do without physical evidence, like a handwriting sample.
As the years went on, the couple started to worry about protecting their son, Simon. He was just a toddler when the mail first started arriving. Now he's seven — old enough to grab the mail from the counter and read it.
Every time they received another piece of mail, they would call the publication to cancel the subscription. But they had no way of stopping the onslaught — until one day recently, when a key piece of evidence arrived in the mail.
Their harasser tried to sign them up for a Boston Globe subscription, but they were already subscribers, so the newspaper mailed back the subscription form. It was filled out in pen.
"Suddenly I found myself holding the handwriting of the person who had been harassing us," McLean said.
A sample of the couple's unwanted mail. CBC has blurred the address and the offensive names. (Submitted by LeeMichael McLean)
McLean says he immediately took the form to the police station.
"But before I took it in, I snapped a photo of it and I put the photo on our town-wide Facebook page and I just said, 'Hey, look, this is happening to my partner and me. We would appreciate any leads you have. Please pass them along to the police,'" he said.
"By the time I got home, I had hundreds of messages from people all across town — some we knew, some we didn't know — expressing just outrage and support and wanting to do all sorts of sleuthing about figuring out whose handwriting that was."
One man, who told the couple he wishes to remain anonymous, filed a request for the town's recent election records under the Freedom of Information Act.
"He painstakingly went through and tried to match the handwriting that I had posted on Facebook with all the samples that he received," McLean said. "He called me one day and said, 'You don't know me, but I think I figured out who's harassing you.' And they lived just a few doors away."
This handwriting sample featuring the name 'Michelle Fruitzey' helped the couple track down the alleged culprit. (Submitted by LeeMichael McLean )
When a Milton Police officer questioned the suspect, he confessed, according to the Washington Post.
"This was definitely deliberate and targeted toward this family," Deputy Chief James O'Neil told the newspaper.
"With everything being digital prior, we were not able to make much progress on it, but now, some old-fashioned handwriting provided us with a break in the case, and we're hoping it brings some peace to these victims."
As It Happens reached out to Milton Police for comment, but did not receive a response before deadline.
The suspect has not yet been named. The next step is for police to bring the evidence before a local clerk magistrate, who will decide whether criminal charges are warranted.
"It was a horrifying realization because this person had been friendly to our face for over a decade," McLean said.
"And it also unleashed, you know, five years of emotions that we had been stuffing into a corner because we had no power over the situation of receiving these threats in the mail."
But he says those negative emotions have been tempered by the support they have received. Checking the mail has become a source of joy instead of fear.
"Not only are we not worried about getting vulgar deliveries, but we're actually getting daily letters and cards of support," McLean said.
Their harasser used the name "Michelle Fruitzey" on the Boston Globe subscription — which Furze described as "an attempt to feminize my partner LeeMichael's name and add 'fruit' to my last name."
Furze, left, McLean, right, and their seven-year-old son Simon sport T-shirts that read:#IamMichelleFruitzey (Submitted by LeeMichael McLean )
Because it was less vulgar than the previous fake names, they shared it publicly in their Facebook post.
Mike Zullas, a local elected official, replied: "#IamMichelleFruitzey" as an act of solidarity. Others did the same, and it became a rallying cry.
"It's a terrible thing that they had to go through," Zullas told the Boston Globe, which first reported this story. "I didn't know it was going on, but they're great examples of taking a negative and turning it into a positive."
Furze made T-shirts using the slogan and is selling them to raise money for their local high school and middle school Gender and Sexuality Alliances. They have already raised more than $30,000 US, he said.
While he's heartened by the response, he says the situation has also taught him a difficult lesson.
"What we learned from this is that discrimination really comes in thousands of small ways as well as big overt ways. And you need to be constantly vigilant, both to fight against discrimination, but also to protect yourself against it," he said.
"Because even in a place that we considered a very safe enclave, we were sought out and attacked for five years."
Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview with LeeMichael McLean and Bryan Furze produced by Sarah Jackson.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/june-29-2021-episode-transcript-1.6087120
June 29, 2021 Episode Transcript
Hosts: Nil Koksal and Chris Howden
MIKE BROOKS: Hello, I’m Mike Brooks, sitting in for Carol Off.
CHRIS HOWDEN: Good evening, I'm Chris Howden. This is “As It Happens”.
CH: Tonight:
CH: Neighbourhood whats?! A Massachusetts couple is shocked when the help of a friendly stranger leads them to discover that the person behind years of anonymous homophobic harassment was their neighbour.
Massachutsetts Anti-Gay Harrassment
Guest: LeeMichael McLean, Bryan Furze
CH: For the past five years, picking up the mail has been anything but a routine for a Massachusetts couple. LeeMichael McLean and Bryan Furze have been on the receiving end of a steady stream of homophobic letters, and subscriptions addressed to vulgar names. For years, the sender was a mystery -- and police said there was nothing they could do without a handwriting sample. But thanks to a bit of luck and a helpful stranger-turned-sleuth, police now say they know who the culprit is. We reached LeeMichael McLean and Bryan Furze in Milton, Massachusetts.
NK: Well, LeeMichael, let me start with you. What's it like to grab your mail now knowing there won't be any more vulgar deliveries?
LEEMICHAEL MCLEAN: Well, it's a much different situation now because not only are we not worried about getting vulgar deliveries, but we're actually getting daily letters and cards that support. Bryan just received on the other day from parents of high school friends that he hasn't been in touch with for years. I've been getting them. We get them from friends near and far, in our town and across the country. And so, it has just continued this amazing, massive outpouring of support from social media and now to hitting our mailbox, which is a really nice change of pace.
NK: So, Bryan, how did these... these letters, these subscriptions and deliveries first begin?
BRYAN FURZE: Pretty suddenly and unexpectedly. We opened the mail one day and there was a letter on the top of the pile with a pejorative and homophobicly-toned name with our address on it. We hoped that it was a coincidence -- an unpleasant coincidence. But shortly thereafter, a couple of days later, we received another one and we knew that we had a problem. And for the next five years, with a brief intermission during COVID, we received probably over 30 individual pieces of mail with different names that were pejorative and again, homophobic in tone.
NK: Yeah, we're not going to repeat the language that was used. But to be clear to our audience, this was a lot more than just minor taunts.
BF: Yes, we, you know, have built a, hopefully, a movement against anti-bullying with the last name that was used, which was Michelle Friutzey, which was a attempt to feminise my partner, LeeMichael's name and add fruit to my last name. You know, we were able to take that on it and make it something playful that we could use. But most of them were far more vulgar.
NK: And you have a young son. Did he ask or understand what was going on?
BF: Luckily, our young son was unable to read until this all started again very recently. And so we were able to keep this from him largely until the positive press started recently.
NK: And LeeMichael, five years. It's a staggering amount of time to... to be facing this every time you go to the mailbox. Police, as I understand it, said to you that they couldn't do anything without a handwriting sample. So after all this time, how were you able to get to a point where there's a break in the case?
LMM: Yeah, I would say the police tried to be as supportive as possible, but there just simply weren't any leads to go on. We could never get a handwriting sample. But then about two months ago, this person I think us all emerging from our homes post-COVID, you know, we were out of sight, out of mind for a while. He saw us again and decided to sign up for another subscription, this time to The Boston Globe. But we're already Boston Globe subscribers. So the paper was unsure what to do with the subscription card. So they mailed it back to us. And suddenly, I found myself holding the handwriting of the person who had been harassing us.
NK: Jackpot! When you saw that, I'm sure, after all this time. But how did you get to the point where you were able to identify a person, a potential suspect?
LMM: So I was very carefully holding the cards, afraid that I would mess up fingerprints or something. [NK chuckles] I wasn't sure what they were going to do with it. And I rushed over to the police station. But before I took it in, I snapped a photo of it and I put the photo on our town-wide Facebook page. I went into the station, re-explained the whole dramatic story to the officer that was there that day and handed over the subscription card. And by the time I got home, I had hundreds of messages from people all across town that some we knew, some we didn't know, expressing just outrage and support and wanting to do all sorts of sleuthing about figuring out whose handwriting that was. And one of our Milton neighbours took it even further and filed a Freedom of Information Act request in the United States and was then eligible to receive all the election documents from the April election in our town. And he painstakingly went through and tried to match the handwriting that I had posted on Facebook with all the samples that he received. And he called me one day and said you don't know me. But I think I figured out who's harassing you. And they live just a few doors away.
NK: This person lived just a few doors away -- this is a neighbour?
LMM: Just like the police had told us over the years, it's usually somebody you can see from your house that does this type of harassment. And that turned out to be true. And it was... it was a horrifying realisation because this person had been friendly to our faith for over a decade. And it also unleashed, you know, five years of sort of emotions that we had been stuffing into a corner because we had no power over the situation of receiving these threats in the mail. And now that the person was identified and actually arrested that same day that the handwriting match was made, there was released, but there was anger that finally was able to come to the surface.
NK: We should tell our listeners that Milton, Massachusetts police are seeking a charge of criminal harassment against the suspect. They're still waiting for a court date. Bryan, would you like to see criminal charges in this case?
BF: I'm very torn about that, to be very honest with you. I would very much like to see this person publicly outed and come forward and show contrition and potentially join the fundraiser that we have. That being said, I think it's important that there's an acknowledgement that this is not OK. I actually just today received an email from someone in my business who's receiving hate mail at their home because they have a transgender daughter. I think it's important as a result of that for this person to understand that they did something terrible and they should be held accountable. So ultimately, yes, I think I would like to see a charge.
NK: You guys have hinted at this, but you've turned this into a bit of a movement now. Tell me a little bit more about that?
LMM: One of our select board members here in town wanted to show his solidarity. And so he just simply said, I'm standing with you guys. #IamMichelleFruitzey, using the name from the Boston Globe subscription card. And other people immediately jumped on that and said, I'm Michelle Fruitzey, too. Let's get T-shirts, let's wear them around town so this person has to see, you know, the name everywhere and let's get visible with our support. And so in amongst having all of those feelings I was talking about earlier, where the anger and, you know, the resentment is coming to the surface, Bryan said, why don't we create a fundraiser and sell those T-shirts that say #IamMichelleFruitzey, and we'll donate all the money to the Gender and Sexuality Alliance at the high school and the middle school. And so I got on board with that. Bryan designed up some T-shirts and created the fundraiser. And just a few weeks later, we have now just passed 30,000 dollars raised.
NK: Bravo! Well, that must feel great after all this?
BF: It does. It's been incredibly rewarding and surprising. I expected to raise a couple of thousand dollars to support our kids in town and make sure that they know that they're not alone, and was simply overwhelmed by the response and donations that have come from as far away as New Zealand at this point.
NK: Wow, that's fantastic! LeeMichael, Bryan, thank you so much for your time.
BF: Thank you.
LMM: Thank you very much. Have a great day.
NK: You too. Take care.
BF: Bye-bye.
CH: That was LeeMichael McLean and Bryan Furze. We reached them in Milton, Massachusetts -- which is a suburb of Boston. And you can find more on this story on our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.
A Milton gay couple was harassed anonymously for years. Then a piece of handwriting unraveled the mystery
Erin Clark/Globe Staff
The harassment began arriving by mail five years ago, a mysterious string of 30 magazine subscriptions ordered under fake, homophobic names that were delivered to a gay married couple in Milton who had never asked for them.
LeeMichael McLean and Bryan Furze had a 2-year-old son, were making a mark in local government, and now faced an unnerving campaign of anonymous bigotry.
“We were scared,” Furze recalled.
But five years later, the couple’s harassment has become a catalyst for an extraordinary show of community support, including the unsolicited help of a stranger with a knack for handwriting analysis.
After years of dead ends, police recently were led to a suspect, a neighbor who lives a few doors from the couple and had shared hellos, waves, and casual conversation with them. Now, Milton police are seeking a charge of criminal harassment against the man in Quincy District Court, according to Deputy Chief James O’Neil.
The news was startling, particularly because the alleged perpetrator had seemed to be a good neighbor, as well as serving with the couple as Town Meeting members.
"There was never any outward hostility,” Furze said.But the latest fake subscription — ordered this spring for “Michelle Fruitzey,” a homophobic play on the couple’s names — has become a rallying cry in this suburban enclave on the Boston line.
The hashtag “iammichellefruitzey” is gaining popularity and building solidarity for the couple, who have received more than 300 messages of support on social media. The slogan also is bolstering the couple’s fund-raising campaign to benefit the Gender and Sexuality Alliance in the Milton public schools, as well as adorning T-shirts being printed for contributors.
So far, more than $12,000 has been collected through Fundly, a fund-raising website, Furze said.
“For us, this is not really about broadcasting the bad. It’s about embracing the good and finding ways to blow it up into something bigger,” Furze said.
An added benefit, McLean said, is “we can own this slur, this name, and feel better about it.”Over the five years, the couple received subscriptions to Vogue and Cosmopolitan, among other magazines. The orders did not require payment up-front, so the perpetrator did not have to provide his credit-card information.
The unwanted mailings, including a pitch for life insurance, stopped during the shutdowns and complications caused by COVID-19. But this spring, they started again in the form of a subscription order for The Boston Globe.
McLean and Furze already had a subscription for the Globe, which returned the order form to the couple’s address. Now, they suddenly had a sample of the harasser’s handwriting, which McLean posted on a local website in the hope that someone would recognize the style.
“Thanks for taking a look, neighbors,” McLean said in the posting. He also wrote, in a broad facetious barb, that the “joke is on them. What gay guy doesn’t want free issues of Vogue and Cosmopolitan?”
Erin Clark/Globe Staff
One Milton resident, bothered by the harassment, felt compelled to file a request for town election records under the Freedom of Information Act. The resident used nomination papers to compare voter signatures, one by one, with the way “Michelle Fruitzey” was written on the subscription card.
Eventually, he found what appeared to be a match. Milton police were contacted, and the man was confronted by a detective. Furze said police told the couple that the suspect confessed, but that he linked the harassment to differences over local government.
"He told the officer that he was motivated by our outspokenness and our opinions about Milton’s politics and Milton’s future,” Furze said. “I have some doubts about that.”Furze has served as chair of the Planning Board, and McLean has been chair of the Warrant Committee.
McLean identified the suspect during an interview with the Globe, but asked that the man not be named unless a clerk-magistrate at Quincy District Court decides to move ahead with the charge. The suspect could not be reached by the Globe.
O’Neil, the deputy police chief, said that linking a suspect with the mailings had been frustrating and fruitless for years.
“It’s been hard to determine who was signing them up to receive these magazines,” O’Neil said. “But now, for the first time, you had handwriting of what we believe to have been the suspect’s.”
Select Board member Michael Zullas, who jumpstarted the phrase “iammichellefruitzey” with a social media post, said the couple are respected contributors to the town’s civic life.
“It’s a terrible thing that they had to go through,” Zullas said. “I didn’t know it was going on, but they’re great examples of taking a negative and turning it into a positive.”
Furze said the couple want to use donations for the T-shirts, available for $30 each, to endow a scholarship through the Gender and Sexuality Alliance. A co-adviser for the alliance, special-education teacher Liz Hallisey, said that effort has been inspirational.
"The community is disappointed with what they went through, but impressed with their ability to be strong about it, to be able to give back to students who may be going through something similar,” Hallisey said.Settling on their response took time and thought.
“LeeMichael and I were both struggling with how do we turn this into something good,” said Furze, 45, senior vice president of leasing for WS Development.
That struggle has been eased by the community’s response.
“The majority of the folks who have participated have just donated money and not asked for shirts,” said McLean, 44, senior networks director at Vizient, a national health care consultant. “It’s been shocking. We never, ever could have imagined the outpouring of support.”
Another outcome, McLean said, has been taking stock of the emotional burden they’ve carried since the subscriptions began arriving.
“We did not realize the full effect it has had on us until after there was some resolution,” McLean said. “Prior to that, we had tried not to worry about it too much. At first, it was scary because we weren’t sure how many we would get or if it would advance to violence.
“After we identified who it was, we were both very anxious and depressed, and I was very upset,” McLean said. “I didn’t realize at first that it had been bothering me for the last five years. I didn’t have any place to put it, and I was ignoring it.”
Now, McLean said, the community’s reaction “has helped us get through the realization that we had been affected by this so negatively.”Another realization has surfaced, too.
“My big takeaway from this is that bullying happens anywhere,” McLean said. “But the bright side is that the number of people who are willing to put up with that kind of bullying is much smaller than the people who are outraged about it.”
Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at brian.macquarrie@globe.com.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/06/25/gay-harassment-neighbor-mail-handwriting/
A gay couple faced vulgar harassment. A neighbor helped find the suspect with a handwriting sample.
“A few days later, we got another one, and I knew we had a problem,” said McLean, 44.
Since the first piece of hate mail arrived, a steady stream of letters and subscriptions to various magazines, all addressed to their home with a vulgar name, have been periodically delivered to the couple, who live in the town of Milton with their 7-year-old son, Simon.
Two of the 30 pieces of mail addressed to homophobic names that the couple has received over the past five years. (Courtesy of LeeMichael McLean)
“We contacted the police right away. They opened a file for us, but unfortunately with something like this, there’s very little to go on unless we get a handwriting sample,” said McLean, who estimated that over the past five years, the couple has received about 30 pieces of mail addressed to explicit anti-gay names, sometimes with sexual innuendo. “We had no power over the situation.”
The made-up names were subtle enough that the publications probably did not notice, but the message was clear to McLean and Furze: Someone knew where they lived, and they were harassing them because they’re gay.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the couple — both of whom are involved in local politics — got a short respite from the unsolicited mail, but in early May, the harassment resumed. They received a subscription order for the Boston Globe, addressed to “Michelle Fruitzey” — a mocking amalgamation of the two men’s names.
“It was very disheartening to think this was starting again. It was even more concerning now, because our son is 7 and can reach the top of the counter and pull mail and read,” said Furze, 45, who is a senior vice president at a real estate development company. “Suddenly, it had a whole new level of concern, because it was going to be harder to protect him from it."
“I thought, ‘Is it going to stop with mail or is it going to turn into something else?’ ”
But after five years of persistent harassment, the couple, who have been married for 12 years, finally had something they had long been yearning for: an actionable lead.
Since they already subscribed to the Globe, the Boston newspaper sent the fake order form back to their address. And it showcased the perpetrator’s penmanship.
The subscription form for the Boston Globe that the couple received in early May. After years of harassment, they finally had a sample of the alleged perpetrator’s handwriting, which ultimately led to a suspect being identified. (Courtesy of LeeMichael McLean)
In addition to promptly contacting the Milton Police Department, McLean, who works for a national health-care consulting company, posted a photo of the subscription form on the town’s Facebook page, which has about 12,000 members. He hoped someone might recognize the handwriting.
Very quickly, a torrent of comments appeared from people showing support for the couple — and contempt for the targeting they’d faced.
“There were hundreds of comments of incredible support from every corner of town,” McLean said. “People were genuinely heartfelt, and they started doing all sorts of detective work.”
McLean, left, and Furze have been married for 12 years. (Courtesy of LeeMichael McLean)
In fact, one Milton resident mobilized to crack the case. Less than a week after McLean shared the post, the couple was contacted by someone they didn’t know who filed a request for the town’s recent election records under the Freedom of Information Act. The resident, who chose not to publicly reveal his name, cross-referenced voter signatures with the subscription card, and fairly quickly, he managed to find what he believed to be a match, the couple said.
“He said he was really upset to see the post, so he sat down and scanned along all the election records,” said McLean. “It was an amazing gesture of humanity.”
Upon learning what they believe is the culprit’s identity, “I was floored and devastated,” Furze recalled, adding that the alleged harasser lives near the couple. “This is a neighbor that has been outwardly friendly with us.”
In some ways, though, they weren’t surprised: “I spoke with law enforcement professionals many times over the years, and they told me that almost always when this type of harassment happens, it’s someone you can see from your house,” McLean said.
After they took the information to the police, the suspect was confronted by an officer and confessed to sending the subscriptions, the couple said, though he claimed it was merely “a prank.”
“This was definitely deliberate and targeted toward this family,” said Milton Police Deputy Chief James O’Neil, who confirmed the suspect is an adult male resident of the town, though he would not provide his name or specific details, as the investigation is ongoing.
O’Neil said Milton police are seeking a charge of criminal harassment against the suspect, and they are awaiting a court date.
“A clerk magistrate will hear the proof that we present in court,” O’Neil said, adding that the defendant will also be given the opportunity to speak, and it will be determined whether a formal charge is warranted.
“With everything being digital prior, we were not able to make much progress on it, but now, some old-fashioned handwriting provided us with a break in the case, and we’re hoping it brings some peace to these victims,” O’Neil said.
The couple said they are relieved that the anonymous harasser has probably been identified, and that the string of homophobic junk mail would finally cease. Still, they felt a lingering sadness.
“I was an emotional wreck,” explained McLean. “Looking back at five years of having nowhere to put your reaction of getting harassed, I was stuffing my feelings into a dark corner. It all came out.”
Plus, they knew they were not alone in being targeted for their sexual orientation.
“Discrimination happens in a thousand tiny ways. There are big, giant discriminatory actions that are very prevalent and very painful, but there are also a thousand little nicks that bring people down and make them feel small and powerless,” Furze said.
As messages of support from the local community continued to come in, one comment, in particular, inspired an idea to turn their sadness into hope.
On McLean’s original post, Mike Zullas, a local elected official, wrote: “I am Michelle Fruitzey” — the name the most recent subscription was addressed to.
“I thought maybe one way to take some power from the bully was to take the name,” said Zullas, who has lived in Milton since 2004. “If you’re going to call my neighbor that name, I’ll take the name, too. I’ll stand with them against you.”
Soon the post was flooded with “I am Michelle Fruitzey” comments. One by one, neighbors claimed the name. It later evolved into #iammichellefruitzey, and eventually, someone wrote: “we should get T-shirts made.” A lightbulb went on for McLean and Furze.
“We wanted to find a way to channel these feelings and the negative energy into something good,” McLean said.
Furze and McLean with their son. (Courtesy of LeeMichael McLean)
The couple decided to create and sell colorful T-shirts with #iammichellefruitzey inscribed on the front and donate all proceeds to Gender-Sexuality Alliance chapters in local public schools. So far, the couple has raised more than $27,000 since they started the effort at the end of May.
“The fact that we have had messages of support from thousands of people who we don’t know, and we’ve sold hundreds of T-shirts from our little fundraiser in Milton to people all over the country, is stunning,” Furze said.
The T-shirts, which are $30 each, are sold through the fundraising website, Fundly. Donations from $5 to more than $500 have poured in over the past few weeks.
Although the details are still being finalized, the funds will go toward an ongoing college scholarship awarded to local students who stand up against bullying and support the LGBTQ+ community.
Liz Hallisey, a special-education teacher at Milton High School and a co-adviser for the Gender-Sexuality Alliance, said the organization is deeply touched by the initiative.
“The school, the students, and the town are very grateful that these gentlemen chose to share their story,” Hallisey said.
On June 16, Furze and McLean joined a Gender-Sexuality Alliance meeting at the high school and spoke to students about their experience.
“It really resonated with them that the greater Milton community rallied around these men,” Hallisey said. “It taught them that you can face adversity and still turn it around into something positive that can have an impact on other people.”
The couple’s goal is to continue the fundraising initiative.
“We are so excited to work with these kids to come up with amazing criteria for the scholarship and have this lasting gift,” Furze said.
His husband agreed.
“We are very happy that we were able to take the name back, and turn this painful story into something truly positive,” McLean said.
https://www.townofmilton.org/town-clerk/pages/elected-officials
ELECTED TOWN OFFICERS
2021-2022
NAME AND OFFICE ADDRESS TERM EXPIRES
SELECT BOARD
Melinda A. Collins 170 Hillside Street 2022
Kathleen M. Conlon 42 Reedsdale Road 2022
Arthur J. Doyle 85 Belcher Circle 2023
Richard Gerard Wells, Jr. 31 Granite Place 2023
Michael F. Zullas 69 Fairbanks Road 2024
TOWN CLERK
Susan M. Galvin 104 Washington Street 2024
TOWN TREASURER
James D. McAuliffe 103 Wood Street 2022
ASSESSORS
William E. Bennett 37 Westvale Road 2022
Brian M. Cronin 293 Thacher Street 2023
C. Robert Reetz 222 Highland Street 2024
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
S. Elaine Craghead 36 Houston Avenue 2022
Margaret M. Eberhardt 18 Stanton Road 2022
Ada Rosmarin 32 Columbine Road 2023
Elizabeth R. White 36 Ridge Road 2023
Elizabeth M. Carroll 37 Randolph Avenue 2024
Beverly Ross Denny 107 Columbine Road 2024
REGIONAL SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Clinton Graham 9 Hollis Street, 1st Floor 2024
PARK COMMISSIONERS
Regina K. Malley 52 Bartons Lane 2022
Theodore G. Carroll 73 Clapp Street 2023
Anthony Keith McDermott 43 Hills View Road 2024
BOARD OF HEALTH
Mary F. Stenson 91 Sias Lane 2022
Roxanne F. Musto 101 Milton Street 2023
Laura T. Richards 54 Cypress Road 2024
https://miltonaccesstv.org/staff-2/
Who We Are
Meet Our Team
Michael Lynch
Executive Director
Michael Lynch is the Executive Director for Milton Access Television where he designed and supervised the renovation and construction of the TV studio located at 451 Central Avenue in Milton, Mass.
The Executive Director since 2012, he is responsible for the studio’s administrative operations, budgets, employee and volunteer management, filming and programming. He reports to a nine-member Executive Board. Since 2009, he had served as the Production Coordinator.
The MATV schedule reflects his wide experience in directing, filming, programming and generating ideas: public and candidate forums, town elections, local meetings, features (for example, Neponset River tours, Milton Library special events, the farmers market) and educational series, such as cooking shows, author programs, talk shows, film critics, children’s shows and more.
In 2002, Mike received the Community Builder Award in Milton for his work with Best Buddies, and his interaction and activities for children with special needs.
Mike grew up in Milton, Mass, and at the age of 15, he began as a volunteer at MATV working on the show, “Milton Speaks.” The 1997 “Student of the Year” and 2003 graduate of Milton High School later went to Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, graduating in 2007 with a B.A. in Mass Communications (studio production) and a minor in history. During his college years, he studied abroad and made a silent film in Nice, France, in 2005, which received a top grade.
Shane Brandenburg
Director of Operations
Shane started as a volunteer at MATV in 2010 and is now our Operations Director and Production Coordinator at the station. Shane lived and studied abroad in his youth, and was a student at the ESRA film school in Nice, France. Shane also holds a degree in Communications & History from Quinnipiac University.
Shane is responsible for the programming, production and training at MATV, as well as maintaining and updating MATV’s equipment.
Email Shane: shane@miltonaccesstv.org
Tom Pilla
Director of Original Content
If you want to make a show, Tom is the guy to talk to. With the company since 2014 as a production assistant, Tom now oversees all programs produced through MATV. He develops existing and new programming, and coordinates and troubleshoots on behalf of all of MATV’s producers. He also steps in to help with production from time to time.
Prior to MATV, Tom was the editor of the Milton Times newspaper. He has also worked as a brand strategist at an advertising agency and as a management consultant. His B.A. is from Dartmouth College in English and Creative Writing. He studied filmmaking at Colorado Film School and attended Milton Academy. Tom also works as a freelance video producer and writer/editor, and has won awards for his short films and writing.
Feeling inspired?
Give us a call or write us an email, and we can talk about what kind of show YOU want to make!
Or call 617-698-0814, and ask for Tom
Milton Access Television Board of Directors
Frank Giuliano
Acting President, Treasurer
Marvin Gordon
Clerk
Ella Welz
Secretary
Mike Zullas
Select Board Appointee
Ada Rosmarin
School Committee Appointee
Rebecca Padera
Member
Bruce Pearson
Member
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