James J. Wheaton v. Boston, City of - Transportation Department (SPR 20200090)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Super\!isor of Records January 17, 2020 SPR20/0090 Shawn A. Williams, Esq. Director of Public Records Records Access Officer City of Boston 1 City Hall Plaza, Room 615 Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Williams: I have received your petition on behalf of the City of Boston (City) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (c). On December 31, 2019, James Wheaton requested "[t]he number of parking tickets issued during fiscal 2017, 2018, and 2019 to vehicles alleged in the parking ticket to have been in violation of restrictions on parking in spaces ('HP/DV Spaces') designated for vehicles displaying HP/DV license plates or parking placards ('HP/DV plates/placards.)." 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 ·s ingle 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 pa11 of a series ofrequests 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 AshburtonPlace, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us

Shawn A. Williams, Esq. SPR20/0090 Page 2 January 17, 2020 G. L. c. 66, § lO(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). Conclusion In an email sent to this office on January 16, 2019, you wrote "[p]lease disregard my prior letter. I submit the enclosed in its place. There is no petition contained in the revised letter." Accordingly, I find in light of the January 16th communication sent by the City, it is unnecessary to opine on the City's petition at this time. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: James J. Wheaton