Christopher Maza v. East Longmeadow, Town of - Town Manager (SPR 20160548)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division

Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of Records

August 17, 2016 SPR16/548

Ms. Denise Menard

Town of East Longmeadow Acting Town Manager

60 Center Square

East Longmeadow, MA 01028

Dear Ms. Menard:

I have received the petition of Christopher Maza appealing the nonresponse of the Town of East Longmeadow (Town) to a June 9, 2016 request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Maza requested copies of emails from former Interim Town Administrator Gregory Neffinger “related to the town’s recent search for a police chief.” This request for records includes any email records Mr. Neffinger created or received in his official capacity as Interim Town Administrator using private email accounts. Having received no response, Mr. Maza 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 (10) 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. 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 August 9, 2016. In this response former Acting Town Manager Robert Peirent informed Mr. Maza that the Town “does not maintain or possess any of the records.” Mr. Peirent advised Mr. Maza to request these records directly from Mr. Neffinger or

his email provider. It is my understanding that Mr. Neffinger is no longer an employee of the Town.

It is the statutory duty of a governmental entity record custodian in Massachusetts to retrieve and retain all records in the possession of a person leaving public office or employment. G. L. c. 66, §14. In an August 15, 2016 telephone conversation I informed Mr. Peirent of the Town’s obligation in retaining records that are the property of the Town. Whether the records

One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 - (617) 727-2832 - Fax (617) 727-5914

Wwww.sec.state.ma.us/ pre

Ms. Denise Menard SPR16/548 Page 2 August 17, 2016

are stored on a private email account does not obviate the obligation to retrieve and retain such records for the full retention period. See Municipal Records Retention Manual (Manual) (sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcpdf/MA_ Municipal Records Retention Manual.pdf). As such, I find that the Town has not met its burden to determine whether any responsive records exist.

Order

I find the Town has failed to properly respond to a request for public records. Accordingly, the Town is hereby ordered to review Mr. Maza’s request and provide a revised response, prepared in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, its - Regulations and the Manual. 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.

Supervisor of Records

cc: Mr. Christopher Maza