Jane Logan v. Sandwich, Town of (SPR 20192336)

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

Rebecca S, Murray Supervisor of Records

November 21, 2019 SPR19/2336

Taylor D, White Town of Sandwich 130 Main Street Sandwich, MA 02563

Dear Mr. White:

L have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Sandwich (Town) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of the requested public record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the Town provided a copy of the petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). In a request received by the Town on October 28, | 2019, Ms, Jane Logan requested “the details of the valuations for all canal power plant real and personal property.” A representative from the Town contacted this office on Novemebr 19, 2019 requesting an extention of time to respond to Ms, Logan’s request.

Petitions for an extension of time

Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (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

the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and

(vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure.

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

Taylor D, White SPR19/2336 Page 2 November 21, 2019

G. L. c. 66, §.10(c).

The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requester within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b).

Current petition

In the Town’s petition dated November 19th, you indicate that the “several factors including dealing with a prolonged DOR certifying process has occupied a majority of [the assesors] time. ” The Town requested an extension until the end of the month; Novemebr 30, 2019,

Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered 'to provide a response to Ms, Logan’s request no later than November 30, 2019. Ms. Logan may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response

within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

ft leseo

Rebecca S. Rellecent Supervisor of Records cc: Jane Logan