Elizabeth Garthe v. Marblehead, Town of (SPR 20192275)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division

Rebecca S, Murray Supervisor of Records

November 13, 2019 SPR19/2275; SPR19/2276

Maurica D, Miller

Mead, Talerman & Costa, LLC 30 Green Street

Newburyport, MA 01950

Dear Attorney Miller: ,

I have received your petitions on behalf of the Town of Marblehead (Town) seeking an extension of time to produce records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). As required by law, the Town furnished a copy of these petitions to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). In a letter dated October 25, 2019, Nicholas Mango and Elizabeth Garthe sought several categories of records concerning the Glover Landing Condominium Trust property.

Petitions for an extension of time

Under the Public Records Law, a records access officer may petition the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) for an extension of the time for the agency or municipality to furnish copies of the requested record, or any portion of the requested record, that the agency or municipality has within its possession, custody or control and intends to furnish within 20 business days after initial receipt of the request, or within 10 business days after receipt of a determination by the Supervisor that the requested record constitutes a public record.

Upon a showing of good cause, the 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;

(v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from

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

Maurica D. Miller SPR19/2275; SPR19/2276 Page 2 November 13, 2019

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, § 10(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 its current petition dated November 8, 2019, the Town states that “[g]iven the scope of the request, [the Town] is unable to do so within the statutorily provided timeframe.” The Town is requesting an extension for the following reasons:

e The scope of the request is too large to produce all records without extension. The extension will be needed to search for, collect, segregate and/or examine the great amount of records requested.

e The Town has only one part time Building Inspector charged with producing records in addition to his daily duties.

I find that in light of the volume of the responsive records, the capacity of the Town to produce the request without the extension, and the efforts undertaken by the Town in fulfilling. the request, the Town has established good cause to permit an extension of time. See G, L. c.

66, § 10(c)(i)-(iv). Conclusion

Accordingly, I grant the Town an extension of 30 business days beyond the statutorily authorized 25 business days to respond to these requests. See G, L. c. 66, § 10(c). The Town is advised it must provide the records in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. To the extent possible, the Town must provide responsive records on a rolling basis.

Nicholas Mango and Elizabeth Garthe may seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(c), 10A(c).

Maurica D. Miller . SPR19/2275; SPR19/2276 Page 3 November 13, 2019

This office encourages Nicholas Mango, Elizabeth Garthe and the Town to continue to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii) (a municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably).

Sincerely,

Ldeweo. Mma

Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records

ce: Nicholas Mango & Elizabeth Garthe