Bruce Hodge v. Swansea, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20160317)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords May 24,2016 SPR16/317 Mr. John McAuliffe Town Administrator Town of Swansea 81 Main Street Swansea, MA 02777 Dear Mr. McAuliffe: I have received the petition of Bruce Hodge appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Swansea-Town Clerk, Advisory and Finance Board and the Board of Selectmen to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, on April 12, 2016, Mr. Hodge requested access to inspect and examine and select copies of: All proposed Articles submitted to the Board of Selectmen, Advisory and Finance Board and Town Clerk to be inserted in the Warrant for the May 2016 Annual Town Meeting, together with all cover letters, memoranda, notes, communications or the like showing the presentation of such proposed Article, and with each proposed Article, all cover letters, memoranda, notes, communications or the like showing the referral of such proposed Articles by the Board of Selectmen, Advisory and Finance Board and Town Clerk. Failure to Respond Due to the Board of Selectmen's, Advisory and Finance Board's and Town Clerk's failure to respond to the requests, Mr. Hodge appealed to 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 (10) days ofthe request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(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 Clerk, Board of Selectmen and Advisory and Finance Board are advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mr. John McAuliffe SPR16/317 Page 2 May 24,2016 I find the Town Clerk, Advisory and Finance Board and Board of Selectmen have failed to respond to a request for public records, and have failed to rebut any presumption that the requested records are public records. The Town of Swansea was provided with not only Mr. Hodge's requests, but also an acknowledgment from this office dated May 13, 2016 providing an appeal number and notice that a public records appeal had been opened by this office. Accordingly, the Town Clerk, Advisory and Finance Board and the Board of Selectmen are hereby ordered, within ten (1 0) days, to review the requests made by Mr. Hodge and provide a written response to Mr. Hodge, made in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order. If the Town Clerk, Advisory and Finance Board and the Board of Selectmen maintain that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (10) days provide to Mr. Hodge 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 this response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (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, 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 request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determi tion for further information. cc: Mr. Bruce Hodge