Jack Barron v. Southborough Town Administrator (SPR 20191708)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords September 5, 2019 SPR19/1708 Mark J. Purple Town Administrator Town of Southborough 17 Common Street Southborough, MA O1 772 Dear Mr. Purple: I have received the petition of Jack Barron appealing the response of the Town of Southborough (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Barron requested records related to "matters that were recently ... discussed in private executive session.'' Unsatisfied with the Town's response which stated "there were no responsive records," Mr. Barron petitioned this office and this appeal was opened as a result. Previous appeal This appeal was the subject of a previous appeal, SPRl 9/1552 Detennination of the Supervisor of Records (August 6, 2019). In my August 6th determination I ordered the Town to provide Mr. Barron with a response in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within ten business days. Following the August 6th detennination, the Town provided a response on August 9, 2019, in which it indicated the Town would provide "redacted copies of the two Executive Sessions held by the Board of Selectman." Unsatisfied with the Town's response, Mr. Barron petitioned this office and this appeal, SPRI 9/1708, was opened as a result. The Town's August 91 Response " The Town's August 9th response indicates that Mr. Barron "will be provided redacted copies of the two Executive Sessions held by the Board of Selectmen on this issue, as some of the material is protected from release. Those sets of minutes have been sent to Labor Counsel for redaction, and will then be required to be voted to be released by the Selectmen at the next available meeting, either August 20 or September 3 .... " Mr. Barron is appealing the Town's 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

Mark J. Purple SPR19/l 708 Page2 September 5, 2019 response on the basis that he does not "agree or accept the redaction by the town of the documents pertaining to this case." Open Meeting Law Mr. Barron's appeal is related to the release of executive session meeting minutes in redacted format which raises issues that potentially invoke the Open Meeting Law (OML). Given that an interpretation of the OML falls within the authority of the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) and not this qffice, I decline to provide a determination as to the content of the executive session minutes. See G. L. c. 30A, § 23. It is recommended that you contact the Division of Open Government within the Office of the Attorney General should you seek a determination on this issue. Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. Mmray Supervisor of Records cc: Jack Barron