Cynthia B. Gardner v. Cotuit, Town of - Fire District (SPR 20181121)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords August 2, 2018 SPR18/1121 Ray Pirrone Cotuit Fire District 64 High Street Cotuit, MA 0263 5 Dear Mr. Pirrone: I have received your petition on behalf of the Cotuit Fire District (District) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of the requested public 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 District provided a copy of the petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c ). In a request received by the District on July 24, 2108, Cynthia Gardner requested "fire dept. payroll records that contain each of the 11 holidays" including "New year's Day, Martin Luther King's Birthday, Washington's Birthday, Patriot's Day, Memorial Day, July Fourth, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas." Petitions/or 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. 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

Ray Pirrone SPR18/1121 Page 2 August 2, 2018 G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). 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 The District requests "a 30 day extension." The District states "[t]o identify the payrolls covering the 11 days requested, identify the sheet containing the information for the person in question, copy and redact or otherwise eliminate extraneous personnel information will take an estimated 8 to 12 hours." In support of the 30 day extension the District explains the request will take considerable time to work into the staffs schedule." Further, the District explains "[w]e are a small District with only part time help. The staff consists of an Assistant Treasurer who is budgeted to work 3 days a week and myself, budgeted for two day per week." I find the District has not established good cause to permit an extension of time beyond the 25 business days to produce the responsive records. G. L. c. 66 § 10( c )(i)-(iv). The District has not provided sufficient information regarding the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records and the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c )(i)-(ii). Consequently, the District has not met the burden to support its request for a 30 day extension to produce the responsive records. However, if the District requires additional time, it may provide supplemental information to the Supervisor to show good cause for the extension, specifically the volume of records that must be reviewed, the amount of time needed to review each record, and the type of personnel information that must be redacted. Conclusion Accordingly, I decline to grant the District's petition for an extension of time to produce the responsive records. The District is advised it must provide a response to Ms. Gardner in a manner consistent with this determination, the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations by August 28, 2018. If the District requires additional time beyond this date, the District must provide more information within 10 business days of this determination to the Supervisor. Ms. Gardner may appeal the substantive nature of the District's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Cynthia Gardner