Former Election Commissioner June Synosch will return to the panel on a temporary basis following her unanimous appointment by the City Council on Tuesday. A replacement is needed to address all issues and possibly a hearing challenging the residency of School Committee member David Murphy.
The council did not discuss the appointment during the meeting.
School district parent Jen Crowder has filed a complaint with the city challenging the residency of Murphy, whom she says lives in Boston. Murphy told Attleboro Patch last fall that he had an apartment in Boston, but his permanent residence was in Attleboro.
Commissioner Michael Levinson, a former school committee member, recused himself at the June 13 commission meeting before the residency issued was discussed. Chair Fran V. Hutton said a temporary replacement was needed so a full-four member commission could address the issue.
The commission will meet again on July 11. Hutton said that a full commission would be able to "look at what has been presented to us and then decide how to proceed." This could include calling for a hearing.
Mike Greggis
4:08 pm on Friday, June 22, 2012
The solution to this problem is simple. If Mr. Murphy was a resident of Attleboro before he ran for office, all he needs to do is submit a copy of his lease / mortgague to the Patch and the Sun Chronicle. I'm sure they would be happy to report it and then all rumors would be laid to rest once and for all.
Mr. Murphy - I genuinely believe that you are NOT an Attleboro resident. Because if you were (and if you are a smart man) you would have cleared this whole mess up by now. Instead, the taxpayers will be forced to pay for another city-wide special election.
Just show your lease / mortgague with a date on it from before you ran for office and let's all put this saga behind us.
fact getter
4:11 pm on Friday, June 22, 2012
How about showing your license and see what address you had on this when you ran for office.
Reason
5:29 pm on Friday, June 22, 2012
If he proves he has an apartment in Attleboro he is a resident. There are no rules dictating how many days he needs to spend at that residence. This was an issue reported and commented on here during the election. If people thought it was seen as a significant problem then he would not have been elected. For those who don't agree with his performance on the school committee this just seems a wasteful use of time and resources to get your way.
For a long term solution petition to change the rules for residency. He's a lawyer, I'm sure he's looked into and adheres to the current rules in place.
Reason
9:16 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2012
Also see http://cityofattleboro.us/elections/elecinfo.htm and http://www.votinginfo.info/2009/07/who-is-eligible-to-vote.html . Lease agreement maybe wrong but the site shows other requirements for proving legal residency. If his residency has changed since the election this may prove to be an issue for him otherwise wait for the next election cycle and more agreeable candidates.
I too agree that Attleboro residents make the best representatives for Attleboro but in the end what election rules state about the requirements for residency is pertinent.
DebEgan
1:05 pm on Sunday, June 24, 2012
Since this issue was raised back in Oct. and Nov. when he ran I would hope that the Election's Commission will verify where Mr.Murphy lived at that time. It should not matter where his documents show he lives now if these were changed in the past 6 months. If his driver's license was for Boston in November, then he wasn't elligible to run and should have to vacate his seat, even if he has since change his license to Attleboro. If he has changed it to Attleboro in the past 6 months then he obviously knew what he was doing was wrong.
This all comes down to this mysterious apartment he said he was leasing when he ran for office. He said he ran at-large, not because he is buddy buddy with the incumbent who was running (and lost, badly) from ward 6 (Mike Levinson - who had to vacate his seat on the Election's Commission because of this) but because he was leasing an apartment in ward 3. Why didn't he run in ward 3? Likely because he's also buddy buddy with O'Neil, the new representative in Ward 3(who is disappointing many of his constituents).
So if he had this apartment then I say no problem. Just show this mysterious lease. It's more difficult to get Murphy to show this lease than it was to get Obama to show his birth certificate, lol. Just show the lease and no problem. If you can't because it doesn't exist then done. If this isn't handled properly I know for a fact that it will be going to the next phase, which is supreme court! Attleboro and Murphy will look really bad.
T Smith
10:11 pm on Friday, June 22, 2012
yeah hes a lawyer. More like thinks he knows how to manipulate the system. If you have a lease in Boston, but just stay at mommy and daddys, you are not a resident. This has nothing to do with liking him on SC or not. He is not a resident and should not be able to hold any public office. He has his own place in Boston. He has left his parents nest and now lives in Boston.
Renee
1:15 am on Saturday, June 23, 2012
T Smith you are right if he is gonna be on our school committee than he should live here and want OUR schools to be better ..... Not somewhere else and if he wants to be on the school committee so bad go run in Boston NOT HERE ......
Jonathan Friedman
7:35 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2012
Fact Checker's account has been suspended for failure to follow the terms of use for posting on Attleboro Patch, which includes not masking an identity. I encourage everybody on this site to use your real name, especially if you want to make bold declarations and take shots at people.
Jonathan Friedman
7:36 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2012
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