Mystery Surrounds Election Commission Meeting

Few facts were available for the public as of Tuesday afternoon about what the Attleboro Election Commission will discuss at its meeting on Wednesday. Sources familiar with the situation told Attleboro-Seekonk Patch that something about first-term School Committee member David Murphy's residency is on the agenda.

[The agenda is attached to this article.]

Agenda item 6A is labeled "Residency Hearing." Whether there will be a hearing on Murphy's residency or a discussion about a hearing is not clear. City election officials aren't talking. When asked about the agenda item, Commission Chair Fran V. Hutton told Patch to come to the meeting.

Allegations that Murphy does not live in Attleboro came up during last year's campaign because he was renting an apartment in Boston, where he also works as an attorney. Murphy, who grew up in Attleboro and attended the local public schools,  that he had three homes—one at the permanent address that "people in Attleboro associate me with" and rented apartments in Attleboro and Boston.

"I work in Boston at a job that requires long hours and late nights," Murphy said in October. "When I decided to run for a seat on the school committee, I signed a lease on an apartment in Attleboro. As I anticipated, my apartment is in a different ward (Ward 3) than my permanent residence (Ward 6), which is why I decided to run for an at-large seat."

School district parent Jen Crowder  about Murphy's residency on Oct. 11. The commission responded that the issue was not within its jurisdiction because Murphy was a candidate and not an elected official. Political observers told Patch that the commission would not have considered the matter even if Murphy were an elected official at the time because residency is not something it addresses.

 among the six candidates in the contest for three at-large seats.

The meeting on Wednesday will take place at 6 p.m. in the Mayor's Conference Room, which is located on the second floor of . It is open to the public.