Rodney Maloney v. Hinsdale, Town of - Office of the Board of Selectmen (SPR 20170387)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords March 29, 2017 SPR17/387 Katherine Warden Records Access Officer Hinsdale Select Board 29 South Street Hinsdale, MA 01235 Dear Ms. Warden: I have received the petition of Rodney Maloney appealing the response of the Hinsdale Select Board (Board) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Maloney requested meeting minutes and a copy of the audio tape for the July 28, 2016 Select Board executive session. In a response dated March 16, 2017, the Board denied his request claiming the responsive records are exempt from disclosure under G. L. c. 30A, §22 (f) as it operates through Exemption (a) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 5, §7 (26)(a). In this response, you further explain that the requested records may be withheld "as long as publication may defeat the lawful purposes of the executive session." Open Meeting Law The nature of Mr. Maloney's request and the content of the Board's response raise issues that invoke the Open Meeting Law. Given that an interpretation of the Open Meeting Law falls within the statutory authority of the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) and not this office, I decline to provide a determination as to the status of executive session minutes. See G. L. c. 30A, § 23. It is recommended that you contact the AGO should you seek a determination on this issue. Sincerely, ~a~ Supervisor of Records cc: Rodney Maloney Jonathan Sclarsic, Esq. 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