John Bombara v. Douglas, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20180817)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records June 13, 2018 SPRlS/817 Matthew J. Wojcik Town Administrator 29 Depot Street Douglas, MA O1 516 Dear Mr. Wojcik: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Douglas (Town) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of a requested record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the Town furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c ). On May 31, 2018, John Bombara requested "all emails to and from Town Engineer William Cundiff from January 1, 2016" to the date of his request. 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

Matthew J. Wojcik SPR18/817 Page 2 June 13, 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 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 the Town's June 6, 2018 petition the Town requests "30 days to respond to this request." The Town indicates "[t]he Town of Douglas has responded within 10 days to a requester seeking over 9,000 email records with an appropriate cost estimate for printing those records as is desired by the requester." The Town estimates "it will take 48 hours for a staff person to print and segregate these emails, many of which may have attorney-client communications, personnel related matters and building plans in connection with security projects." In the Town's response to Mr. Bombara on June 5, 2018, the Town further explains "[t]he Town Clerk will be on vacation, and the Community Development clerk position is currently vacant, and even with the interview process in place, is unlikely to be filled within the next two (2) weeks. The Work burden will therefore largely fall on the Board of Selectman's office, where competing demands for time and effort will make compliance in less than 30 days very difficult." I find that in light of the scope ofrequests from Mr. Bombara, the efforts and resources available to the Town fulfilling the current request, and the Town's indication of compliance, the Town has established good cause to permit an extension of time of 15 business days beyond the 25 days after receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c)(i)-(iv). Conclusion For the reasons discussed above, the Town may produce the requested records on or before July 27, 2018. The records must be provided consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. The requestor may appeal the substantive nature of the Town's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Additionally, the requestor may seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the superior court under G. L. c. 66, § lOA(c).

Matthew J. Wojcik SPR18/817 Page 3 June 13, 2018 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: John Bombara