On November 10, 2025, in an executive session of Prince George’s County Council, then-councilmember Calvin Hawkins made a motion to extend an offer for the position of council administrator to David Murray. It was seconded by Councilmember Jolene Ivey. Councilmembers Edward Burroughs, Krystal Oriadha, Tom Dernoga, Wanika Fisher, Ingrid Watson, Shayla Adams-Stafford, Wala Blegay, Jolene Ivey and Calvin Hawkins all voted in favor. Councilmember Eric Olson was the lone vote against the appointment. Councilmember Sydney Harrison abstained. David Murray was formerly a member of Prince George’s County Board of Education until he stepped down in July 2024 after it was publicized that he was working full-time in another state, for a different school district. (See the July 25, 2024, issue and August 1, 2024, issue.)
The Council Administrator is “the principal advisor to the Council,” who “helps develop and implement the Council’s policies and work program, oversees the Council staff, and represents the Council on several County boards,” according to the job description. “The Council Administrator serves at the pleasure of the Council,” says the job posting. The position was advertised as a flexible, hybrid position with a salary range of $140,164 to $302,349.
On January 8, Murray was added to the county’s directory with the title of Council Administrator. The News Review reached out to the Ferguson-Florissant School District, where Murray had worked since January 2024, and a representative said Murray resigned January 6, 2026, which was also his last day there.
OIC Findings
In November 2024 the Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) Office of Integrity and Compliance (OIC) “released its official Advisory Summary and Investigative Findings Report on former PGCPS Board of Education member David Murray, after news media reported Murray was working out of state, while still maintaining a seat on the Board” (PGCPS press release, November 4, 2024). The OIC alerted the Board of Education as early as March 2024 that absenteeism policy violations needed to be addressed immediately. Among its findings, the OIC determined the Board of Education “failed to promptly address Board attendance violations, hold the former Board member accountable and to request his removal from the PGCPS Board of Education on the basis of willful neglect of duty.” (PGCPS OIC Executive Summary, November 2024). A PGCPS press release in November 2024 announcing the OIC investigative findings stated that inaction from the Board, “allowed payroll salary disbursements of PGCPS funds totaling $49,792.32 to a Board member who abandoned his Board member duties and responsibilities.” Murray had also registered to run for re-election to the school board, with his address listed as Laurel, after he’d been hired to his new, full-time position in Missouri. Murray did not cooperate with PGCPS’ OIC investigation, with no response to their multiple attempts to contact him, according to the OIC.
On Tuesday, January 13, Rajesh Kumar, Prince George’s County Council’s principal counsel to the District Council, told the News Review, “Mr. Murray has been a lifelong resident and taxpayer of Prince George’s County, and he has owned his primary residence in the County since 2017.” Murray has stated his primary residence continued to be in Prince George’s County with his secondary residence out of state, despite holding a full-time position in Missouri. “The Missouri school district’s spokeswoman confirmed Murray’s position requires living near the district full-time, and she said Murray was a resident of St. Louis and had been ‘100% here’ in terms of attendance at meetings and events he was expected at,” reported Maryland Matters in July 2024.
PGCPS Board Policy 0108 states that board members who miss three or more consecutive regularly scheduled Board meeting worksessions, emergency meetings, hearings, appeals or executive sessions or who miss hearings, appeals or executive sessions or who miss 25 percent of the Board’s regular meetings in 12 consecutive months will be subject to being charged with willful neglect of duty.
Section Two of the OIC report states, “Based on the most recent attendance record … Mr. Murray missed more than 8 consecutive meetings in Quarter 4 and 58 percent of the meetings in the previous 12 months” (OIC Executive Summary and Investigative Findings).
Connections on Council
The News Review reached out to numerous Prince George’s County Councilmembers about their decision to hire the former school board member and none replied.
Murray has connections on council, which seemingly ought to have led to a declaration of a conflict of interest and/or recusal by at least those closely affiliated with him. His closest friend appears to be Burroughs, who was council chair at the time of Murray’s appointment. The pair attended the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) together and both ran for seats on Prince George’s County Board of Education at the same time, in 2012 (Burroughs was elected and Murray was not). Murray graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics from UMBC in 2014 and Burroughs graduated with a bachelor’s in education policy and political science in 2015.
In a public social media post on August 11, 2021, Murray posted a happy birthday message to Burroughs and wrote, “They don’t understand how far we go back lol. And we’re just getting started. Love you bro.” It was accompanied by six photos of the pair spending time together, seemingly as teenagers. One photo is dated March 20, 2010, and the others are undated. Oriadha, current chair of Prince George’s County Council, who also voted to appoint Murray, responded to Murray’s post in 2021 with the message “You two are friendship goals all day.” Councilmember Ivey commented under one of the photos, “I remember you two coming to hang out at my office in Annapolis,” followed by an emoji of a face covered with hearts. “Bros” commented someone else. Thus, Burroughs and Murray’s longtime friendship is certainly well-known to multiple members of the county council.
“It starts with seats on school boards.”
Murray served on the Board of Education from 2016 to 2024. Burroughs served on the same board from 2010 to 2021, before he was elected to county council (he was a student member from 2008 to 2010). Thus, for five years they served together, in addition to attending college together.
Larry Stafford Jr., CEO of Progressive Maryland, which provides significant financial backing to the political candidates it supports through its Political Action Committees (PACs), has made several statements in support of Murray, spanning over a decade. Stafford is the husband of Councilmember Adams-Stafford. In November 2016, Stafford posted congratulations to Murray, Raaheela Ahmed and Burroughs on their election wins. “It starts with seats on School Boards where there is important work to do, then we go to take greater power for our communities. In 2012 I worked in the trenches with this team and I’m so happy to see their success. The old guard is falling in PG and we are the rising tide,” wrote Stafford.
Adams-Stafford served on the school board from 2020 until 2025 when she stepped down to run for county council. She served alongside Murray for four years and was a member of the board that the OIC found failed to take prompt action to address his absenteeism. In November 2024, after Murray resigned and abandoned his bid for re-election, he transferred $6,000 out of the Friends for David Murray account and sent it to Friends of Shayla Adams-Stafford before he closed it. In 2021 his campaign account also donated $6,000 to Friends of Edward Burroughs. In June 2025, Murray was listed in the program for Adams-Stafford’s swearing-in ceremony to Prince George’s County Council, where he was one of three giving “special tributes.” He was identified in the program as “former school board member.”
No Comment from Councilmembers
Burroughs did not respond to our questions about Murray’s appointment or his apparent friendship with Murray. Adams-Stafford, likewise, did not respond to our request for comment. Principal Counsel Kumar responded to the request for comment we sent to Murray and wrote that Murray “never relinquished his residence and domicile in Prince George’s County” and “Mr. Murray has never been the subject of removal proceedings based on willful neglect of duty pursuant to Board Policy 0108.”
Since no members of the county council were willing to speak about why they chose to appoint Murray, we cannot know what recommended him highly enough to overlook his potential violations of county policy and ethics that the OIC investigated and his receipt of taxpayer funds while employed by a school district in another state, which the OIC’s 2025 Annual Report flagged as “wasteful receipt of PGCPS funds and/or property by an absent Board member in the amount of $9,792.32.”
