William M. Welch v. Longmeadow, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20191722)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray S11pe111i,wr ofR ecords September 10, 2019 SPR19/1722 Diane Georgantas Longmeadow Public Schools 535 Bliss Road Longmeadow, MA 01106 Dear Ms. Georgantas: I have received the petition of William Welch appealing the response of the Town of Longmeadow School Committee (Committee) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Welch requested a copy of: "any and all documents, whether in handwritten, electronic, or any other fonn, relating to VD H's investigation of the allegations contained within the November 30th complaint and subsequent response to that complaint on behalf of the [Committee], Said documents include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. Any and all emails from or to any [Committee] member, including any email from or to the personal email accounts of any [Committee] member; 2. Any and all text messages from or to any [Committee] member, including any text messages from or to the personal devices of any [Committee] member; 3. Any and all handwritten, electronic, or any other recordings of any conversations, discussion, interviews, conferences, or any other communications with any [Committee] member; 4. Any and all research conducted in relation to the November 30th OML complaint; 5. Any and all documents received from any [Committee] member, including, but not limited to an "outline of events," relating to the October 30th meeting or as part of the investigation of the November 30th OML complaint; 6. Any and all documents to any reviews of the December 19th response; 7. Any and all drafts of the December 19th letter; and 8. Any and all drafts of agendas and motions relating to the November 30th complaint." Prior appeal The responsive records were the subject of a prior appeal. See SPRl 9/896 Determination 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

Diane Georgantas SPR19/l 722 Page 2 September 10, 2019 of the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) (May 16, 2019). In an initial response on February 6, 2019, the Committee provided documents responsive to Mr. Welch's request, and withheld some documents pursuant to the common law attorney-client privilege·and/or attorney work product. As a result, Mr. Welch petitioned the Supervisor, and SPR19/896 was opened. Whereas the Committee did not meet its burden of specificity in claiming the common law attorney-client privilege, in my May 16th detennination, I ordered the Committee to identify the records, categories of records or portions of records in its possession that it has withheld from disclosure under the common law attorney-client privilege and/or work product doctrine. In a May 28, 2019 response to the Supervisor with a copy to Mr. Welch, the Longmeadow Public Schools and Committee's Legal Counsel, Regina Williams Tate, Esq. of Murphy, Toomey and Lehane, LLC, stated, "[a]t the time that Mr. Welch submitted his public records' request, the School Committee and the [Schools] had a different law firm representing the School Committee. That firm, Valerio, Dominiello and Hillman, LLC drafted the response to the public records' request and provided certain documents to Mr. Welch. It is the response drafted by that firm which is at the root of Mr. Welch's appeal. At this time, neither this firm nor the Longmeadow Public Schools has access to the files of Valerio, Dominiello and Hillman, and thus, are not privy to information including what documents were provided to Mr. Welch, what documents were withheld, the basis for the claims of attorney-client privilege and work-product privilege, and other relevant infom1ation. The School Committee, through its chairperson, Annand Wray, requested that Valerio, Dominiello and Hillman provide all Longmeadow Public School files by letter dated May 8, 2019, soon after the appointment of this firm as counsel ... To date, there has been no reply from the finn, nor have the files been provided to this firm. Thus, as of this time, neither this firm nor the Longmeadow Public Schools can comply with your order to provide Mr. Welch with a response which is consistent with your order. The School Committee and the Longmeadow Public Schools .do not wish to withhold from Mr. Welch documents that are public records. Likewise, it wants to comply with your order in the time specified. It is just not feasible at this time." Current appeal In his August 25th petition to the Supervisor, Mr. Welch objected to the Committee and its new Legal Counsel, Murphy Hesse Toomey & Lehane, LLP having not received the client files from the prior law firm that represented the Schools and Committee. Therefore, Mr. Welch asserts, "[t]hat the [Committee] may not physically possess the requested records is irrelevant." In a September 9th telephone conversation, a Senior Attorney in the Public Records Division learned from the Committee's Legal Counsel that on September 4th, Mr. Welch was

Diane Georgantas SPR19/l 722 Page 3 Septernber 10, 2019 provided with a response and a flash drive containing additional records responsive to his request. A copy of the response was provided to this office. Conclusion Accordingly, as this appeal was based on Mr. Welch not receiving a further response and any additional records requested, I find that where the Committee provided Mr. Welch with responsive records and a response to address the issues raised in my prior determination, I consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Rebecca S. MmTay Supervisor of Records cc: William Welch Regina Williams Tate, Esq., Murphy Hesse Toomey & Lehane, LLP