Just Google It: Search Result for Stephanie Murray

It's pretty sad when you have someone seeking political office in town and two of the first three results of a Google search come up with "official's home up for sheriff's sale" and "Federal tax lien on Middletown official's home".

APP: Red Bank mayor, aided by ex-con's loan, set to payoff tax debt: Similar Situation Similar Thoughts

Early last month the Asbury Park Press reported that Middletown's Stephanie Murray (newly reappointed Deputy-Mayor), had a federal tax lien of $78,000 placed against her and her home on Wallace Rd. was being included in an upcoming County Sheriff's sale.  At the time, I commented on both which you can find HERE and HERE.

It was (and is) my opinion, that if you're an elected official, regardless of party affiliation, if you can not pay your taxes and have a lien of any kind on your property or other holdings, than you shouldn't be in office. After all, if you can't control your own finances, how can taxpayers trust you controlling their tax dollars? Also, one has to consider the possibility that a sitting politician, who is in dire financial straits, could be susceptible to some kind influence pedaling or bribery by someone who may "just want to help" in return for a favorable town ordinance or planning board outcome.  

Do I need to remind everyone of former Township Mayor Ray O'Grady? Remember, he was arrested when he got snagged by the F.B.I.  in Operation Bid Rid and went to jail for bribery and extortion. 

At the time, I received a few comments, basically calling me a hypocrite, because if the shoe were on the other foot and it was a Democrat, as opposed to a Republican, I wouldn't be so quick to judge or even point out the issue.

In response to that, I point to the December 29th article in the Asbury Park Press which pointed out that Red Bank's Mayor, Pat Menna, has a similar tax federal tax lien against his home as Stephanie Murray has on hers.

Mayor Menna however seems to be open to addressing the issue and has answered questions about his situation. According to Mayor Menna, his financial problems seems to be from a combination of health problems and business losses. Whereas, no one really knows what the situation is with the Murrays. Stephanie Murray is keeping quite about her financial troubles, insisting it's a private matter.

Having a Federal tax lien against you is a serious issue. If you're an elected official, you have a moral obligation to disclose the information to the residents of the community that voted for you. You can't hide behind a curtain and plead for privacy insisting that there's nothing to see.  

For the record, I will reiterate my position. If an elected official, regardless of office, has financial problems and for whatever reason, cannot pay his or her taxes, then they shouldn't be in office. They should resign or if possibly, be placed on administrative leave until such time as their situation is resolved satisfactorily by authorities. If their situation cannot be resolved in a timely and satisfactorily way and the elected official refuses to step aside or be placed on leave, every attempt should be made by authorities and the taxpayers, to remove them from office.

Here is a snippet from the APP concerning Mayor Menna. I encourage everyone to read it and make up their own mind as to what should or shouldn't be done.

RED BANK - Mayor Pasquale "Pat" Menna said he plans to pay off a $40,000 federal tax lien by year's end, his financial woes eased by a $75,000 loan from a convicted car thief. 

The IRS placed the $40,146 lien on Menna's home in October 2013 after what the mayor described as a "confluence of circumstances," including a significant shift in his law practice and major health issues that cut into his income. 

"It's painful, but it's a reality," Menna said. "I've tried to deal with it quietly." 

Menna is the third official whose federal tax lien has become public in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the Asbury Park Press revealed Middletown Committeewoman Stephanie Murray has a $78,000 tax lien on her home. A week later, news broke that Ocean County GOP chairman George Gilmore was being investigated by the IRS, which placed $1 million in federal liens on his property....

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APP: Federal tax lien on Middletown official's home: Thoughts

The Asbury Park Press, on December 1st ran an article"Middletown official's home up for sheriff's sale", where we found out that Middletown Committeewoman Stephanie Murray's home was scheduled to be auctioned off in an upcoming sheriff's sale. On Tuesday, December 13th, The APP ran a follow-up article "Federal tax lien on Middletown official's home" where we found out that the reason for the sheriff's sale was for unpaid income taxes.

Stephanie Murray

The APP and it's reporter, Russ Zimmer, had gotten some pretty nasty comments in response to the two articles.  There are some that think the articles single out the Murray's just because Stephanie Murray is a public servant; they feel that it's a private matter and shouldn't be discussed in public. Many others think that someone that falls on hard financial times shouldn't be ridiculed.

If this was a case of actual hard times for the Murray family I'd agree. If Kenneth Murray had lost his job at the Manhattan law firm which he happens to be a partner in or their financial problems had been the result of some unforeseen tragedy or event then I would whole-heartedly agree; this would be a private matter and off limits. But it's not.

The IRS doesn't just place liens on peoples properties for nothing. Here the agency has placed a tax lien on the Murray's property of $78,000 for unpaid Federal income taxes!

A Federal tax lien is put in place when an individual does not report income. Assuming that the Murray's tax bracket falls at 33% that would mean that they did not report ~ $236,000 of income.

That's a lot of money and this shouldn't be taken lightly.

As I stated before, Stephanie Murray is up for re-election next year. If she can't handle her own finances, how on earth can we trust her with ours?