William A. Moschella, Esq. v. Rowley, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20160119)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords March 11, 2016 SPR16/119 Ms. Susan Hazen Town Clerk Town of Rowley 139 Main Street, P.O. Box 351 Rowley, MA 01969 Dear Ms. Hazen: I have received the petition of William A. Moschella, Sr. appealing the nomesponse of the Town of Rowley-Town Clerk (Town) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, on January 13, 2016, Mr. Moschella requested access to review and/or copies of Board of Registrar meeting notices and meeting minutes from November 14, 2015 to January 10, 2016. In an initial response on January 15, 2016, Town Administrator Deborah Eagan informed Mr. Moschella she would forward his request to your attention. At this time the Town has failed to meet its burden in providing either the requested records or a written response to the request for public records. Mr. Moschella appealed the Town's non-response. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (10) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b ); 950 C.M.R. 32.05. The ten-day provision is a maximum, rather than a minimum, time frame for complying with a public records request. 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. The Town failed to respond to a request for records, and has failed to rebut the presumption that the requested records are public records. The Town was provided with not only Mr. Moschella's request, but also an acknowledgment from this office dated February 25, 2016 providing an appeal number and notice that a public records appeal had been opened by this office. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Ms. Susan Hazen SPR16/119 Page 2 March 11, 2016 Accordingly, the Town is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Mr. Moschella with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. If the Town maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (10) days provide to Mr. Moschella a written explanation, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record. To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. If there are any fees associated with the Town's response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § IO(a); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2) (where cost of complying with a request for public records is expected to exceed ten dollars ($10.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Once the fees are paid, the Town must provide the records. To assist the Town in responding to requests for public records I refer the Town to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, 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 custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upo request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this deter i t on £ r further information. urs, cc: Mr. William A. Moschella Ms. Deborah Eagan, Town Administrator