Stephen J. Morgan v. Ashland, Town of - Office of the Town Clerk (SPR 20180491)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 27, 2018 SPR18/491 Katherine Feodoroff, Esq. Mead, Talerman & Costa, LLC 730 Main Street, Suite IF Millis, MA 02054 Dear Attorney Feodoroff: I have received the petition of Stephen Morgan appealing the response of the Town of Ashland (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (A); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on August 31, 2017, Mr. Morgan requested notices, minutes, and documents from a meeting on August 8, 2017 regarding the Ashland Strategic Advisory Group (Group). Previous appeals The requested record was the subject of previous appeals. See SPRl 7/1452 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (October 23, 2017); SPRl 7/1650 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (December 7, 2017). I closed SPRl 7/ 1650 with the proviso that the Town provide a response in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations. The Town responded on December 13, 2017 in which it denied access to responsive records pursuant to Exemptions (d) and (e) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(d), (e). Mr. Morgan appealed and SPR18/491 was opened as a result. The Town's December JJ1h response In its December 13th response, the Town indicates "[t]he only documents which may be responsive to your request from the Strategic Planning Advisory Group (the 'Group') are drafts of the strategic plan being developed and notes of the Group members. No formal notices or agendas were not created for the Group, to the extent that emails indicating the date/time of meetings are responsive to your request, the email inviting the Group to the August 8, 2017 meeting is enclosed herewith." However, the Town is withholding the "draft plans and the notes" under Exemptions (d) and (e). 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

Katherine Feodoroff, Esq. SPR18/491 Page 2 April 27, 2018 Open Meeting Law The Town also explains "[s]ince the Strategic Planning Advisory Group is not a public body within the meaning of the Open Meeting Law, meeting notices and minutes were not created. To the extent that members of the Group created notes during the meetings, these notes are being withheld pursuant to exemption (E) as more fully discussed above. As your request relates to documents used during the meetings, these documents, drafts of the Strategic Plan, fall within the deliberative process exemption as more fully discussed above." You also indicate that the issue of whether the Group is public body is the subject of an Open Meeting Law Complaint that is pending with the Division of Open Government (Division) in the Office of the Attorney General (AGO). I find it is necessary to first obtain an opinion from the Division regarding the applicability of the Open Meeting Law to the meeting at issue to determine whether the Town may cite exemptions to the Public Records Law to withhold responsive records. See G. L. c. 30A, § 22(e) (describing the public nature of documents used at an open session). I will consider this appeal closed pending the AGO's review. If appropriate, I will opine on this matter upon completion of the AGO's review. Sincerely, ~~ Supervisor of Records cc: Stephen Morgan Kerry Kilcoyne, Esq.