Local Brownie leader blasts Nahant woman in e-mail

NAHANT – Police confirmed they received a complaint from a local woman who said former Selectmen candidate Jennifer McCarthy sent her a nasty letter via e-mail.The four-paragraph e-mail, among other things, castigated her for supporting Selectman Lainey Titus, even though McCarthy had served as a Brownie leader for her daughter.”I just wanted to let you know how disrespectful it was of you to display a Titus sign on your lawn while I was running for the same position,” the letter, signed by Jen McCarthy, states. ” ? to openly support her, while I have dedicated numerous hours and still am volunteering numerous hours each month for (the woman’s daughter) to be in Girl Scouts was honestly just plain rude of you.”I am really shocked that you had the (audacity) to sign her up again this year while displaying that sign in your yard,” the letter states.The letter turns even more vulgar and hostile, while mentioning Sandra Warren’s daughter by name three times.Warren confirmed Wednesday she had received the e-mail from McCarthy.”It’s just horrible,” she said of the letter, but declined further comment.McCarthy, who lost the recent special election to Titus, declined to comment when reached Wednesday. She was asked three separate times if she denies writing the e-mail.”I have no comment on the letter,” McCarthy said.She did say she had not been stripped of her position in the Brownies because of the letter.”I’m still a leader for the Brownies,” said McCarthy, a Lynn school teacher who is also a member of the town’s Recreation Commission.Several calls and e-mails to the Girl Scouts of America were not returned Wednesday.Police Officer Keith O’Brien confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Warren had filed a complaint with the police department about McCarthy’s letter, but said he doesn’t expect police to take any action.”There’s no criminal charge,” he said.The letter is the talk of the town, according to several local officials, including Titus, who beat McCarthy in the special selectman’s election.”I have heard about it from many different people,” Titus said Wednesday.The new selectman acknowledged she had also read the letter”I haven’t seen anything like that in politics, but everyone takes things differently,” Titus said.Titus stressed she hoped people would be able to move on now that the election was over, but added she hoped the letter was sent “in error or in a high emotional state.””There are personal relationships in a small town and emotions can run high,” Titus said.She said she got to know Warren and her husband during the last few months of the campaign.”I was appreciative to have her support and her husband’s support and I was happy they agreed to put up a sign for me,” Titus said.Nahant Town Administrator Mark Cullinan confirmed he also had heard about the letter, but declined to comment.The letter goes on to say she hope Warren moves out of town.”But let me tell you what I think of you. At school we have a code word for people like you. It is UPS. Useless Piece of (expletive). I hope that you sell your house and move right on out of here. Let some other town experience the ‘Wonderful Sandra Warren.'”The letter closes by saying that although Warren’s daughter is welcome at Brownie meetings or events, Warren is not.”If we go on field trips or have events, do not show up, because you are not welcome,” the letter states.Lynn School Committee Vice Chairman Patricia Capano said the e-mail shows bad judgment, but she doesn’t think it concerns McCarthy’s job as a teacher in the Lynn school system.”I think we live in a world where we have to be very cautious of what we do in e-mails, but I would guess that she thought the e-mail would be a personal mode of communication,” Capano said.Still, Capano agreed teachers should hold themselves to a higher standard of conduct than other people.”As a role model and a professional, absolutely she should,” Capano said. “Do you need to know better? Absolutely, but it’s a personal matter, not a p