Littleton Selectman Alexander McCurdy was raised in Harvard, MA. He began his public service career in 1974 as an on-call firefighter and shortly after as a volunteer EMT. Alex rose through the ranks becoming Fire Chief in Harvard in 1990. He also served in elected and appointed positions such as Water Commissioner for the Town of Harvard, Vice President of the Fire Chief’s Association of Massachusetts, President of the District Six Fire Mutual Aid Association and many other organizations. He has been an educator of firefighters through his association with the Mass Firefighting Academy across the Commonwealth. He came to Littleton as Fire Chief in 1993 and proudly and admirably served until 2004. As Chief, he implemented the Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP) to encourage the continuance of Littleton’s traditional on-call Firefighters and EMTs. Alex had initiated a planning effort called the 4 Vision Project that brought the members of the department together to set a long term vision and plan for the department and contributed to development of the Town’s Master Plan. He also received the Award for Valor in 2003. “Serving as fire Chief was a dream job. Seeing people, as I did, in all sorts of difficult circumstances is what showed me the true character of Littleton. I met, worked with and helped some truly remarkable people, I will be forever grateful for that.”

Volunteering is an intrinsic part of Alex’s life. He spearheaded the construction phase and helped with the fundraising efforts of Harvard Park, a 1.2 million dollar combined recreation project which includes a track, soccer field and conservation land. The park was built with private funds and eventually turned over to the Town of Harvard to manage. The Littleton Track and Field team often uses the facility. The track is named and dedicated to Coach Bill McCurdy, Alex’s father who was a beloved Track & Field coach for Harvard University.

After Alex’s service as Fire Chief ended, he again volunteered, this time to reform the political environment in Littleton. He worked with a large group of citizens to adopt the “Strong Fire Chief” statute that allows for improved management rights of the Fire Chief. The group also worked to successfully adopt a recall bylaw that would empower voters to hold selectmen and other public officials accountable for their actions.

In 2004, politics in Littleton was extremely polarized and dysfunctional after years of conflict and discord between political viewpoints and questionable practices. This is when he decided that leaving his role as Fire Chief did not signal the end of his involvement in serving the Town. Alex ran for a seat on the Board of Selectmen in 2006. His opponent was an eighteen year incumbent who had previously been untouchable in his bids for re-election. Alex won the election through hard work and by sticking to his conviction of open government, strong values, transparency, ethics and honesty.

He is a champion and proponent for the successful passage of a personnel bylaw. He has often stated, “No one should be subjected to what I and others were subjected to under the old guard. The new bylaw provides for performance standards, accountability, fairness and above all, mutual trust and respect.” He supports the formation and implementation of the newly formed Agricultural Commission. He has been encouraging volunteers to come forward to serve on this committee and sees it as a valuable tool to save and sustain the remaining elements of our agricultural heritage. Alex continues to work on improving the image and trust in public officials so that they are highly responsive and accountable to both the voters and the various laws that public officials are sworn to follow through their oath of office. Following along that line, he recommended that all elected and appointed officials receive a collection of these laws to assure they have the legal information necessary to perform their duties. He is committed to civility (without the loss of lively debate) that expresses all sides of an issue. He continues to encourage improved working relations among Town boards and committees. Fulfilling his campaign promises are among his top priorities.

Alex strongly supports a broad-based economic development strategy that addresses both Littleton Common and other commercial/industrial areas that have been stagnant for some time. Recently, the Selectmen hired two key people into the redefined and improved positions of Town Administrator and Assistant Town Administrator/Finance Director. The newly defined roles and the characteristics of the individuals that were hired support a professional yet friendly small town atmosphere. He also supports the ongoing transition of the finance systems. “We must be efficient and practical with our money.” Alex considers himself somewhat conservative in spending initiatives and generally wants the Town to be very careful about growing government beyond clearly defined wants and needs. He realizes that there are numerous important capital projects on the horizon, many long overdue. Roads, public safety, services for the elderly and the ongoing improvement to our schools are just a few. “We, like so many other communities, have fallen behind, yet simply raising taxes and spending on our credit is not congruent with the character of the town.”

A Message From Alex

“The future of Littleton is very promising. With a strong economic development plan, we could be positioned to hold taxes down and still get key projects done while maintaining the community character we all want. The bitterness and dispute-laden political environment that I experienced as Fire Chief is waning and will continue to diminish if we hold ourselves to high standards and stay connected to the philosophy that we are public servants. We need an involved public who keeps us on track. I urge the public to carefully watch how we work and be involved so we don’t fall backwards! Complacency narrows our field of vision and closed doors prompt stagnation. Unlike the private sector, there is nothing efficient or easy about democracy; the checks and balances in the system are at the core of it and they ensure that government is for the people, by the people and that each vote is sacred. I welcome and urge the public to challenge their officials to preserve and uphold integrity in our Town government, and bring our community forward in a responsive and responsible way.”