Peter F. Winters v. Marion, Town of (SPR 20181759)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords November 26, 2018 SPRlS/1759 Barbara Huggins Carboni, Esq. Huggins and Witten, LLC Town of Marion 132 Adams Street, Suite 7 Newton, Massachusetts 02458 Dear Attorney Carboni: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Marion (Town) 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 Town provided a copy of the petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). Specifically, on October 19, 2018, Peter Winters requested "minutes for all executive sessions of the Sippican School Committee and any other school committee in the ORR District for meetings related to or which discussed the litigation entitled Douglas White, Jr., Superintendent ofS chools vs. Rebecca Murray, Supervisor of Records ... and my request for documents to Douglas White dated February 4, 2016 and a}l appeals to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Secretary State's Office." 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; 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

Barbara Huggins Carboni, Esq. SPR18/l 759 Page 2 November 26, 2018 (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). 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 November 15, 2018, the Town "requests an extension often days (until its November 28th evening meeting, plus an additional day to provide a response to Mr. Winters." The Town explains "[a]t the time of the above request, the School Committee had not yet reviewed the executive session meeting minutes at which the Supervisor ofR ecords litigation had been discussed to make a determination as to whether there is a continued basis for nondisclosure ... [t]he next meeting of the School Committee is November 28, 2018, and this item has been added to the meeting agenda. The Committee will review the relevant minutes at the meeting and, if appropriate, will disclose them." The Town further explains "[d]ue to scheduling issues it is not practicable for the Committee to meet prior to November 19, 2018, for the express purpose ofreviewing the executive session meeting minutes." I find that in light of 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 10 business days beyond the 25 days after receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § IO(c)(i)-(iv). To the extent possible, the Town must provide responsive records on a rolling basis. Conclusion For the reasons discussed above, the Town may produce the requested records on or before November 29, 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

Barbara Huggins Carboni, Esq. SPR18/1759 Page 3 November 26, 2018 respons~ 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). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Peter Winters