Pamela Goodwin v. Upton, Town of - Housing Authority (SPR 20160144)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords March 11,2016 SPR16/144 Ms. Mildred Galeone Town of Upton Housing Authority 4 Hmiford A venue North Upton, Ma 01568 Dear Ms. Galeone: I have received the petition of Pamela Goodwin appealing the response ofToYvn ofUpton Housing Authority (Authority) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); ;;ee also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically on January 12, 2016, Ms. Goodwin requested copies of records related to the Authority. The basis of Mr. Morison's appeal is that at the time of her petition Authority had not responded to her request for records. 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 response may be an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. The Authority is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Accordingly, the Authority is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Ms. Goodwin with a response to the request, provided in a mam1er consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. If the Authority maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Ms. Goodwin 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 prefe:r:able to send an electronic copy of this response to this office.at pre(~sec.state.ma.us. If there are any fees associated withthis response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(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 ($1 0.00), custodian of records shall OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · {617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma;us/pre

Ms. Mildred Galeone SPR16/144 Page 2 March 11, 2016 provide written good faith estimate). Once the fees are paid, you must provide the responsive records. To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records please refer to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is available on . the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Attorneys on 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 upon req est. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determination fi r further information. cc: Ms. Pamela Goodwin