Patrick Higgins v. Fairhaven, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20170111)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 27, 2017 SPR17/111 Anne O'Brien Assistant to the Town Administrator Town of Fairhaven 40 Center Street Fairhaven, MA 02719 Dear Ms.O'Brien: I have received the petition of Patrick Higgins appealing the response of the Town of Fairhaven (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1 OA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Higgins requested a date and time to inspect "executive session minutes of all public bodies ofyour municipality, whether draft, hand written or typed, and whether accepted, approved or not for the calendar year 2016." In a letter dated January 24, 2017 you notified him that you had compiled records responsive to his request, redacted pursuant to the Freedom oflnformation Act (FOIA). See 5 U.S.C. § 552. Mr. Higgins appealed on January 24, 2017 on the basis that his request was submitted under the Massachusetts Public Records Law (M.G.L. c. 66, §10) and not under FOIA. Subsequent to the intervention by a member of my staff, this office was notified that a revised response would be provided within ten (1 0) business days. Therefore, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that the Town provides this response prepared in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, 1/tt~{(A fYIUuttUUA___ 0 Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Patrick Higgins 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