Maurice F. Cunningham was an American attorney, educator, and political figure who served as Town Manager of Saugus, Massachusetts from 1974 to 1976.

Early life

The son of Judge C. Carol Cunningham and Theresa I. (Conner) Cunningham, Cunningham grew up in Saugus. He graduated from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

School of Education In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences e ...

in 1961 with a B.S. in history. He was also vice president of his class, co-chairman of the Jazz Committee, a member of the Student Senate, and a member of the Class Council. After graduating he began working in the Saugus Public School system. In 1965 he graduated from the

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the Private university, private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in Downtown Boston, downtown Boston, across the street from the Boston Common and the Fr ...

with a Bachelor of Law degree.

Board of Selectmen

From 1963 to 1967, Cunningham was a Saugus town meeting member. He also served as acting town moderator. In 1967, Cunningham was elected to the Saugus Board of Selectmen. He topped the ticket with 4,388 votes and was named chairman of the board. During his tenure on the board, the selectmen unanimously voted not to renew Town Manager Paul H. Boucher's contract. To replace him, the board selected Clarence Wilkinson over former

Keene, New Hampshire Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,047 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 23,409 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat and the only city in ...

City Manager Frank A. Saia by 3 to 2 vote, with Cunningham voting for Saia. Cunningham was a candidate for the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

in 1968. He won the Democratic nomination, but lost to Belden Bly in the general election 6059 votes to 5188.

Town Manager

In 1974, Cunningham was chosen by the Board of Selectmen to replace Robert Hagopian as town manager. He was later given a five-year contract by the board and the School Committee granted him a two-year leave of absence from his position as assistant principal of the Saugus Junior High School. During his tenure, Cunningham was heavily involved in getting community development grants and funds for new sewers and water extension programs. In 1975, $30,000 in municipal funds (about $19,000 in cash and $11,000 in checks) were stolen from a vault the Collector–Treasurer's office. Cunningham stated that he could not explain why the money had not been deposited in a local bank as it usually was. In 1976, the School Committee unanimously voted not to extend Cunningham's leave and he stepped down as Town Manager.

Later life and death

Cunningham later left the Saugus school system and moved to

North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European colonizati ...

. He opened a firm that assisted professionals establish non-investment second incomes. He then worked as an attorney specializing in personal injury and worker's compensation. In 1991 he negotiated the largest settlement for an industrial accident case in Massachusetts history. He later retired to

Bonita Springs, Florida Bonita Springs is a city in Lee County, Florida, United States. The population was 53,644 at the 2020 census, up from 43,914 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, on the state's sou ...

. Cunningham died on May 6, 2006, after a long illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Maurice People from Bonita Springs, Florida 2006 deaths Massachusetts Democrats People from Saugus, Massachusetts Town managers of Saugus, Massachusetts 1940 births