Rep. Charles A. Murphy, the House’s recently appointed Ways and Means Committee chairman, told CW Unbound in a phone interview today that he has shed all of his private business dealings and faces no potential conflicts of interest in his new job crafting the state budget.
Murphy said his only remaining source of income outside the Legislature is some minor legal work he does in his capacity as “of counsel” for the law firm of Gibson & Behman at the company’s offices in his hometown of Burlington.
Gibson & Behman‘s website indicates that its clients include several prominent Massachusetts firms, such as Liberty Mutual Group, Beacon Cos., and One Beacon Insurance. Its client list also includes the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
Murphy said his other private business interests have wound down over the last several years. He previously ran his own law firm, Murphy & Randall, which paid him between $60,000 and $100,000, according to his 2007 State Ethics Commission filing. He said he sold his interest in Critical Environment Management Solutions, which sells supplies for high-tech “cleanrooms,” to his partner last year. And a company called Pirus Strategies LLC that he launched last year with his political consultant “never got off the ground,” according to Murphy.
“They’ve all sort of gone by the boards,” Murphy said. “It’s good timing, because I’ve got my hands full with this new job.”
Murphy launched Pirus Strategies last May with Francis Perullo, who runs Boston-based Sage Systems LLC with William Carito. Sage is a soup-to-nuts political consulting firm that does work for most members of the House and has had particularly close ties to former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi.
Murphy paid Sage $66,499 in 2007, when he ran unsuccessfully in the special election for the state Senate seat vacated by Robert A. Havern of Arlington. Murphy lost in the Democratic primary to James Marzilli, who went on to win the election but resigned late last year after he was arrested for allegedly accosting four women in Lowell and then running from police.
In a separate phone interview, Perullo said he and Murphy “got real close during the campaign” and subsequently decided to launch Pirus Strategies to manage projects for companies in New York and New Jersey. Perullo and Murphy said the business they hoped to land never materialized and they abadoned the venture. Perullo said he plans to dissolve the company soon.
“In hindsight, I’m glad it didn’t take off,” Murphy said.
