Blog

Looking for recent writing?

This page contains an archive of articles, reflections, and updates spanning more than a decade. While I still occasionally post here, most new writing, podcast notes, project updates, and ideas are now published through:

Alex Torpey on Substack — essays, observations, and longer-form writing
Rethink Local — local government, community leadership, civic engagement, and consulting work
LinkedIn — where most "social media" updates are going these days
Rethinking Podcast — where I post interesting and somewhat long winded deep dives and conversations

If you're visiting for current projects and ideas, those are generally the best places to start!

Alex hired at UMass Boston's Collins Center for Public Management

Posted on June 12, 2026 at 9:42 AM

The Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management is dedicated to improving efficiency, effectiveness, governance, and accountability at all levels of government in MA, with a particular focus on state and local government. The Center’s aim is to enable public entities to provide high quality services to the people they serve on a sustainable basis. Alex was hired as a part-time consultant, to join a strong team of retired Town/City Managers, police/fire chiefs, and other local government professionals who help Collins delivery great quality work to towns in MA they serve.  Alex’s practice areas including shared services and regionalization; community/economic development, human resources, recruitment and retention; financial planning and budgeting; and public and community engagement. Alex joined the Center in October 2024.  Since the Center was founded, it has provided support to: over 280 cities and towns; 30 school districts; 35 regional agencies, quasi-governmental agencies, or county governments; and, 24 state agencies. To learn more about Alex's work and the CPM, check it out here: https://www.umb.edu/cpm/staff/#Torpey. 

Alex joins the Board of Directors of Community Nurse Connection

Posted on February 11, 2026 at 9:47 AM

Alex was asked to join the Board of Directors for Community Nurse Connection, a 501c3 that supports the amazing community nursing programs around the Upper Valley and works to grow that service in other communities around New Hampshire and Vermont. Community nurses are filling a vital gap (one of many) in our healthcare system, and Community Nurse Connection is supporting both short and long term goals related to addressing some of these needs.  You can learn more community nursing on the RETHINK LOCAL podcast: https://rethinklocal.castos.com/episodes/ep-6-community-nursing-in-the-upper-valley Learn more about CNC: https://www.communitynurseconnection.org/

Starting Rethink Local

Posted on August 01, 2024 at 9:12 AM

After several years serving in municipal leadership roles and consulting with communities previously, I launched Rethink Local. The goal is simple: help communities build stronger local leadership, more effective organizations, and more meaningful public engagement. Through facilitation, executive recruitment, planning, organizational development, and interim management, budget analyiss, Rethink Local works with towns, nonprofits, and community organizations navigating change and trying to solve complex challenges. While my work has evolved over the years, the core interest remains the same: helping communities make better decisions and create better outcomes, and there is significant exciting opportunity to provide towns, individuals, and communities free best practices, as well as providing paid technical advising.  Learn more at RethinkLocal.us!

How to increase engagement in New Hampshire and Vermont at Town Meeting at NHPR

Posted on March 26, 2024 at 9:21 AM

Most of those who live in New England are familiar with one of the most pure expressions of democracy in the world – Town Meeting. As rich of a history as there is with Town Meeting, there are no shortage of modern challenges. While Town Manager in Hanover, NH, Alex worked with dozens of local and state officials and organizations such as the New Hampshire Municipal Association, NH Department of Revenue Administration, and NH Secretary of State, to develop a short guide to help officials, staff, volunteers, media, and community create the most engaging Town Meeting possible. New Hampshire Public Radio did a story about it which you can find here: https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2024-03-11/call-to-order-this-nh-town-manager-created-a-practical-guide-to-town-meeting You can also view the guide and download it here: https://rethinklocal.us/best-practices-for-an-engaging-town-meeting/