John D. Rousseau v. Clinton, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20161148)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of Records December 16, 2016 SPR16/1148 Michael J. Ward Town Administrator Clinton Town Hall 242 Church Street Clinton, MA 01510 Dear Mr. Ward: I have received the petition of John D. Rousseau appealing the nomesponse of the Town of Clinton- Town Administrator (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Rousseau requested three (3) categories of information regarding "written correspondence" between the Town and specifically identified individuals. Having received no response, Mr. Rousseau 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, § lO(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 would be provided to Mr. Rousseau without delay. Whereas this matter was opened based upon the Town's failure to provide a written response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that the Town provides Mr. Rousseau a response to his November 2, 2016 request. Mr. Rousseau may appeal the substantive nature of the Town's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). 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: John D. Rousseau One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us