Gar Chung v. MWRA Employees' Retirement System (SPR 20181233)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords August 2018 SPRlS/1233 Carolyn Russo Executive Director, Records Access Officer MWRA Employees' Retirement System 2 Griffin Way Chelsea, MA 02150 Dear Ms. Russo: I have received your petition on behalf of the MWRA Employees' Retirement System (MWRAERS) seeking relief from its obligation to produce responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, MWRAERS furnished a copy of this petition to the requester. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). On July 30, 2018 Gar Chung of Financial Investment News requested "all investment presentations and handouts from the July 26 board meeting." You note there are approximately 300 pages of responsive documents. 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. 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

Carolyn Russo SPR18/1233 Page 2 August 22, 2018 G. L. c. 66, § lO(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 MWRAERS indicates it is seeking "relief pursuant to 950 CMR 32.06(4)(f) as it pertains to repeated requests for information from Financial Investment News regarding the MWRA Employees' Retirement System's (MWRAERS') investments." You further assert that it appears that "each month Financial Investment News takes the information provided by MWRAERS, repackages it, and sells it as part of their subscription service. Their methods by their own admission have become increasingly aggressive and in my estimation are bordering upon harassment, not to mention routinely usurp an inordinate amount of publicly funded time and resources." You also explain "I try to respond promptly and maintain compliance with public records laws and regulations. However, I am seeking this relief solely as it pertains to Financial Investment News, because in my estimation, and seemingly by their own admittance as described above, their requests for information are excessive, burdensome, and are not for the purpose of' ...t he broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity ...' but rather seek to profit by obtaining for free information for which the public entity pays." Based on the information provided in its petition, I find that MWRAERS has not met its burden to demonstrate how this request is "part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass," nor has it shown how the requests, which pertain to investment presentations and handouts from a board meeting, "are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity" as required by G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). It should be noted that MWRAERS may submit a petition for additional time to produce public records under G. L. c. 66, § 10(c ). It may also submit a petition to assess fees for the time spent redacting and/or segregating responsive records under G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv) within ten business days of receipt of the request. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g).

Carolyn Russo SPR18/1233 Page 3 August 22, 2018 Conclusion For the reasons described above, MWRAERS must provide a response to Mr. Chung in accordance with G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)-(b). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Gar Chung