Larisa Mironova v. Agawam City Clerk (SPR 20200293)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supen1isor ofR ecords February 24, 2020 SPR20/0293 Vincent F. Gioscia Agawam City Clerk 36 Main Street Agawam, MA O1 001 Dear Mr. Gioscia: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Agawam (Town) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of a requested record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the Town furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. Specifically, on February 7, 2020, Larisa Mironova requested two categories of records pertaining to "[t]he business name, business address, name of applicant(s), name of property owner(s), and the zoning district that applied for. .. a Class II Dealer's license by the Town of Agawam, MA from November 16, 2004 to present ... " 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 pmt 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

Vincent F. Gioscia SPR20/0293 Page 2 February 24, 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 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 February 14, 2020 communication, the Town petitions "the Supervisor of Public Records for additional time to comply with [the] request." The Town indicates the only way to provide the requested information "is to have an employee search all sixteen years of records for each Class II dealer license ... there are 24 Class II dealer's license files to be copied, redacted, and researched." The Town further states "[s]ome records may contain information that is exempt pursuant to M. G. L. G. L. c. 4, § 7 (26)(c), and M. G. L. G. L. c., § 7 (26)(a) such as C.O.R.I. information or Social Security Number." The Town explains "it will take approximately 432 hours of search and segregation time, based upon the following: locate, copy and redact if necessary approximately twenty-four files, search and copy relevant parts of 12 months of city council minutes for each year, per license." The Town further explains "[t]he magnitude or difficulty of the request unduly burdens the other responsibilities of the Office ... [c Jurrently, the Clerk's office is preparing for a Presidential Primary Election, all three conducted in March 2020. Additionally, early voting will be conducted the week of February 24, 2020 followed immediately by the March 3rd election ... [i]n addition to its Election responsibilities the City Clerk's Office is in the process of conducting the annual Town census." I find that in light of the broad scope of the request, the need to collect and redact the request, and the capacity of the Town to produce the request without the extension, the Town has established good cause to permit an extension of time. G. L. c. 66, § 10( c )(i)-(ii). I hereby grant the Town an extension of 30 business days beyond the time allowed in G. L. c. 66, § lO(b )(vi) ( a municipality may provide a timeframe not to exceed 25 business days to produce responsive records). Please note the time may begin to run once the Town receives payment. G. L. c. 66, § IO(c). Conclusion For the reasons discussed above, the Town is granted an extension of 30 business days to produce responsive records. The records must be provided consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. The requestor may appeal the substantive nature of the Town's

Vincent F. Gioscia SPR20/0293 Page 3 February 24, 2020 response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Additionally, the requestor may seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the superior court under G. L. c. 66, § lOA(c). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Larisa Mironova