James Shurtleff

Early life

Shurtleff was born on July 28, 1910 in Middleborough, Massachusetts. He attended Williston Academy and Brown University.

Shurtleff worked as a writer for the Middleborough Journal and the The Standard-Times. In 1937, while working for the Journal, Shurtleff was elected to the Middleborough Board of Selectmen.

On August 12, 1938, Shurtleff married Thalia Elizabeth Forsberg. They would go on to have four children together.

During World War II, Shurtleff served as one of Middleborough's three blackout coordinators.

Mansfield, Massachusetts

In 1943, Shurtleff, who had no prior experience in the day-to-day administrative operations of a town, was named Town Manager of Mansfield, Massachusetts.

In 1945, Shurtleff dismissed Police Chief John Haines and named Lawrence Barrows to succeed him. Haines refused to turn over his badge and the keys to the police cruiser and maintained that he was still chief. Two months later, a Special Town Meeting voted to direct the Board of Selectmen to reinstate Haines as Chief. Shurtleff, who accused Haines of 35 counts of misconduct, including fee splitting and insubordination, refused to reinstate the former chief. The dismissal was upheld by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the Civil Service Commission.

Brookfield, Illinois

In August 1947, Shurtleff was named village manager of Brookfield, Illinois. Shurtleff left Brookfield after only eight months to become Town Manager in Saugus, Massachusetts.

Saugus, Massachusetts

On February 16, 1948, Shurtleff was unanimously chosen by the Board of Selectmen to become the first Town Manager of Saugus. On February 1, 1950, Shurtleff resigned as Town Manager to accept a similar job in Medford, Massachusetts.

Medford, Massachusetts

In 1950, Shurtleff became Medford's first-ever City Manager.

During his tenure in Medford, Shurtleff clashed with State Tax Commissioner Henry F. Long over who could appoint assessors. The dispute went before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, who ruled in favor of Shurtleff.

On November 20, 1956, the Medford City Council voted 4 to 3 in favor of firing Shurtleff. After his dismissal, Shurtleff was granted a public hearing a second vote on whether or not he should be fired. Once again, the City Council voted in favor of dismissal.

In 1957, Shurtleff ran for and was elected to the Medford City Council. Soon after his election, Shurtleff led the charge to remove his successor as City Manager, John B. Kennedy, from office. On April 8, 1958 the city council voted for to 4 to 3 to fire Kennedy. Shurtleff was later involved in the effort to remove City Manager John C. Carr, charging that City Councilor John C. Carr, Jr.'s vote for his father was a conflict of interest.

On November 18, 1964, Shurtleff died at his home of a heart attack.