Richard Tgettis v. Nahant, Town of - Housing Authority (SPR 20160038)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary ofthe Commonwealth Public Records Division January 25, 2016 Shawn A. Williams SPR16/038 Supervisor ofR ecords Ms. Donna McDonald Executive Director Nahant Housing Authority 194 Nahant Road NahantMA, 01908 Dear Executive Director McDonald: I have received the petition of Richard Tgettis appealing the response ofNahant Housing Authority (Authority) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Tgettis requested copies of a newspaper ad of a job posting; an employment contract and; audio recording of an Authority board (Board) meeting. In a December 29, 2015 response the Authority provided Mr. Tgettis a copy ofthe newspaper ad and a copy of the responsive meeting minutes. In this response you explained that you were waiting to hear back from the Authority legal counsel whether the employment contract in considered a public record. Mr. Tgettis thereupon appealed your response. The basis of his appeal is that he requested a copy of the audio recording of the Board meeting, and that he had not been provided a copy of the employment contract. In a subsequent response dated January 22, 2016 you provided Mr. Tgettis with a copy of the employment contract. In this response you also explained that the meetings are only recorded for the accuracy in drafting the written minutes of the meeting and were not retained. You confirmed this fact in a phone conversation with an attorney on my staff. Pursuant to the Massachusetts Municipal Records Retention Manual (Manual), "recordings by public bodies to use as an aide in drafting the final version of meeting minutes of a meeting by the public body need only be retained until final minutes are approved or administrative use ceases, whichever occurs later." See Manual, 01.080. I find the Authority provided all existing respon IV cc: Mr. Richard Tgettis OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre