Brian Moy v. Framingham, City of - Mayor's Office (SPR 20180717)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division

Rebecca S, Murray Supervisor of Records

May 18, 2018 SPR18/717

Nichol M. Figueiredo

Public Information and Records Access Officer/ Webmaster City of Framingham

150 Concord Street

Framingham, MA 01702

Dear Nichol Figueiredo:

I have received your petition on behalf of the City of Framingham (City) 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 City provided a copy of the petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). In a request received by the City on April 30, 2018, Bryant Moy writes ,“[w]e are requesting a copy of official mayoral emails from January 1, 2018 to March 31, 2018 (inclusive) and we would like to access as much data as is feasible for those months.”

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, éither 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.

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

Nichol M. Figueiredo Page 2 May 18, 2018

G.L. c. 66, § 10(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 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 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 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 14, 2018, the City is seeking an extension of ten business days to comply with Mr. Moy’s request. In your petition you state, “[i]n review of Mr. Moy’s request 2018-2944, and the number of emails including attachments the City will need additional time to complete the redactions of the Mayor Yvonne Spicer’s emails.” You then write, “[i]t is estimated

that we would be able to provide Mr. Moy with the requested records no later than May 29, 2018.”

Conclusion

I find it unnecessary to opine on the City’s extension request because it intends to provide responsive records within twenty five business days of receipt of the request as allowed in G. L. c. 66, § 10 (b)(vi). The records must be provided in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. Mr. Moy may appeal the substantive nature of the City's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Sincerely,

Rebecca S. Murray

Supervisor of Records

cc: Bryant Moy