Leigh A. Panettiere, Esq. v. Brookline, Town of (SPR 20160030)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords January 28, 2016 SPR16/030 Mr. Matthew J. Buckley, Esq. Deutsch Williams One Design Center Place, Suite 600 Boston, MA 0221 0 Dear Attorney Buckley: I have received the petition of Leigh Panettiere, Esq., appealing the nomesponse of the Town of Brookline (Town) to a December 7, 2015 request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Panettiere, on behalfBrookline Firefighters, Local 950, requested two (2) categories of records related to contractual benefits associated with a specifically identified collective bargaining agreement. Having received no response, Attorney Panettiere petitioned this office. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (1 0) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b); 950 C.M.R. 32.05. The response may be an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. The Town is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Subsequent to the intervention by a member of my staff, this office was notified that a response was provided, dated January 25, 2016. In this response you indicated a further response be imminent. The Town's response was not made in compliance with the timeliness requirements of the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. The Town's response is dated January 25, 2016, forty-nine days after the December 7, 2015 request. G. L. c. 4, § 7 (26); 950 C.M.R. 32 et seq. A record custodian must comply with a public records request as soon as is practicable, without umeasonable delay, and always within ten (1 0) calendar days. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); 950 C.M.R. 32.05(2). The Town is advised that all responses to requests for public records must be made in compliance with the timeliness requirement of the Access Regulations. Accordingly, whereas this appeal was opened on the basis of the Town's failure to provide a written response, I will consider this appeal closed with the proviso that the Town OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma.us/pre

Ms. Leigh Panettiere, Esq. SPR16/030 Page 2 January 28, 2016 provides a complete response with respect to any remaining responsive records within ten (1 0) days. Ms. Panettiere may appeal the substantive nature of the Town's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). To assist the Town in responding to requests for public records I have enclosed a copy of our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is also available on the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Attorneys and other members of my staff are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, members of my staff will visit a records c todian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. lease contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determinatio r urth information. Enclosure cc: Ms. Leigh Panettiere, Esq.