Thomas Calter v. Kingston, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20190245)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords February 25, 2019 SPR19/245 Paul M. Gallagher Town Clerk Town of Kingston 26 Evergreen Street Kingston, MA 02364 Dear Mr. Gallagher: I have received the petition of Thomas Calter, Town Administrator and Chief Procurement Officer for the Town of Kingston, appealing the response of the Town of Kingston (Town) Capital Planning Committee (Committee) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on January 14, 2019, Mr. Calter requested a copy of the audio recording from the January 10, 2019 Committee meeting. In a January 20th response, Peter J. Boncek, Chairman of the Committee provided Mr. Calter with the written minutes in draft form, explaining that the Committee has not voted to approve the minutes. Mr. Boncek states, "[t]hese minutes were done prior to your asking for the audio recording of the meeting that was held on January 10, 2019. I only use the recorded audio to transpose the minutes into a readable format and then I delete the recording as I have always done in the past." As a result, Mr. Calter petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. A review of email correspondence provided by Mr. Calter raises question regarding whether the Town complied with records management and retention requirement for municipalities. Safeguards must be instituted by the Town to ensure that all records are retained in accordance with both applicable law as well as the retention schedules promulgated by this office. G. L. c. 66, § 8; G. L. c. 66, § 13; G. L. c. 66, § 15. To assist the Town in meeting its burden, I advise that the Town review the Records Retention Manual and Schedule, available online at www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcrmu/rmuidx.htm. I find that if the Town maintains that the responsive recording no longer exists, it must demonstrate it destroyed the recording in accordance with the Public Records Law and the Municipal Records Retention Schedule. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (a)(i). 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

Paul M. Gallagher SPR19/245 Page 2 February 22, 2019 Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Calter with a supplemental response pertaining to the request, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma. us. Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Thomas Calter