Edward P. Sinni, Jr. v. Concord Building Commissioner (SPR 20180425)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords April 9, 2018 SPR18/425 Laurie Livoli Building Commissioner/Zoning Enforcement Officer Town of Concord 141 Keyes Road, 2nd Floor Concord, MA 01742 I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Concord (Town) seeking relief from its obligation to produce responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4 ). Edward Sinni requested multiple records and the Town has indicated they have responded. Petitions for an extension of time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended 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

Laurie Livoli SPR18/425 Page 2 April 9, 2018 for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor niay grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requester within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Current petition The Town is requesting "to file a formal complaint of harassment against Edward Sinni." The Town states that Mr. Sinni "has personally over the last year sent numerous emails ... regarding topics that have already been completed (if a zoning complaint)." The Town explains that Mr. Sinni "does not accept that an item was completed and sends numerous, harassing e-mails." Additionally, the Town perceived an email sent by Mr. Sinni earlier this month to be a threat against an employee. A member of the Public Records Division staff contacted the Town and clarified the Town is requesting relief from responding to Mr. Sinni's communications. Given that the Town is seeking relief outside the scope of statutory authority given to the Supervisor under the Public Records Law, consequently, I am unable to grant the relief sought by the Town. Conclusion For the reasons discussed above, I do not have the statutory authority to grant the Town's request for relief of its obligation to respond to future communications. However, the Town may petition the Supervisor for extensions of time or relief of the obligation to respond to pending requests for public records that meet the statutory requirements for relief to be granted. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c ) . The Town is advised it must furnish a copy of any future petition to the requestor, as required by law. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Edward Sinni