David Bixby v. Chatham, Town of (SPR 20192128)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supen,tsor of Records October 31, 2019 SPR19/2128 Terence M. Whalen, AICP Principal Projects and Operations Administrator Town of Chatham 221 Crowell Road Chatham, MA 02633 Dear Mr. Whalen: I have received the petition of David Bixby appealing the response of the Town of Chatham (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Bixby requested documentation regarding airport income accrued under the Airport Management Agreement. Mr. Bixby's Requests of September 6, 2019 On September 6, 2019, Mr. Bixby submitted two requests for records to the RAO for the Town via email. One, sent at 11 :12 a.m., seeks "any documentation of [airport] income accrued to the Commission for the years 201 7, 2018, and 2019 to date." The other, sent at 11: 16 a.m., seeks "documentation of all [airpmi] income accrued to the Manager for the ye·ars 2017, 2018, and 2019 to date." The requests are otherwise identical, including in the subject line, which mentions only "income accrued to commission." The Town's Response The Town responded on September 9, 2019, attaching the 11: 16 a.m. request, which seeks records regarding the Manager, but referencing the subject line, which refers to "income accrued to Commission." The Town stated that responsive records were provided pursuant to a separate appeal, SPR 19/1253, and that the Town and Commission possess no futiher responsive records. In his appeal petition, Mr. Bixby states that "while neither the town nor airport commission may be in possession of any fmiher records pe1iaining to this appeal, surely the airport manager is." Mr. Bixby further states that "[t]his request is for documentation of airport income accrued to the manager." One Ashbution Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us

Terence M. Whalen SPR19/2128 Page 2 October 31, 2019 It is unclear whether the Town and Mr. Bixby are discussing the same records request. Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, th.e issue regarding the nearly identical requests was discovered. As a result, a representative from the Town stated that it intends to provide an additional response to Mr. Bixby addressing the portions of the two requests to which a response has not yet been provided. If issues remain outstanding, Mr. Bixby may appeal the substantive nature of this response within ninety days. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide a response to Mr. Bixby consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Access Regulations within ten (10) business days. It is preferable to send cin electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: David Bixby