Harry Beach v. Martha's Vineyard Airport Commission (SPR 20180631)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords May 11, 2018 SPR18/631 Christine M. Zaleski, Esq. Anderson & Kreiger LLP 50 Milk Street, 21st Floor Boston, MA 02109 Dear Attorney Zaleski: I have received your petition on behalf of the Martha's Vineyard Airport Commission (MVA C) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of the requested public record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the MVAC provided a copy of the petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). In a request received by the MVAC on April12, 2018, Attorney Harry C. Beach requested seven categories of records concerning the MVAC on behalf ofNicholas Catt and the Airport Laundromat. 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). 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

Christine M. Zaleski, Esq. Page2 May 11,2018 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 for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies ofthe 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 requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Current petition In a petition dated May 3, 2018, the MVAC is seeking an extension of nineteen business days to comply with Attorney Beach's request. In your petition you state, "[t]he request concerns documents dating back more than decade, to January 1, 2005, and concerns broad subject matter." You then write, "the request seeks all records of any kind in which the Commission 'referenced' the cost of wastewater. To date, thousands of such documents have been identified in the Commission's electronic files." You further expressed that "[t]he Commission has limited capacity to respond to this public records request as the Commission's administrative staff are few in number. The Airport Manager and IT Manager have been diligently responding to this request since it was received; however, in light of the substantial number of documents, that search is ongoing." Conclusion I find that in consideration of the volume of responsive records and the efforts undertaken by the MV AC in fulfilling the requests, the MVA C has established good cause to permit an extension of time. I hereby grant the MVA C an extension of a total of nineteen (19) business days from the date of this determination to furnish copies of records responsive to Attorney Beach's request. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(e). The MV AC is advised it must provide the records in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. To the extent possible, the MV AC must provide responsive records on a rolling basis. Attorney Beach may seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the superior court under G. L. c. 66, § 1O A( c).

Christine M. Zaleski, Esq. Page 3 May 11, 2018 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Harry C. Beach, Esq.