Michael S. Singer v. Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (SPR 20200306)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 24, 2020 SPR20/0306 Beth Nicklas, Esq. General Counsel and Vice President for Academic & Workforce Programs Massachusetts Life Sciences Center 1075 Main Street, Suite 100 Waltham, MA 02451 Dear Attorney Nicklas: I have received your petition on behalf of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (Center) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of a requested record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). Specifically, on February 13, 2020, Michael Singer requested two categories ofrecords pertaining to emails of named custodians regarding "'angel investor'; 'angel tax credit'; 'angel credit"' for a specified time period. Petitions for a11 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) eff01is 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. G. L. c. 66, § IO(c). 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

Beth Nicklas, Esq. SPR20/0306 Page 2 February 24, 2020 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 18, 2020 petition, the Center requests "an extension to extend the time to respond to the attached public records request." The Center indicates "[w]e received it last Thursday, February 13th, and I will be on vacation from Wednesday, February 18t11 ... and returning to the office on Thursday, February 27th. Last week I began to collect the materials, but will not be finished compiling them until I return from vacation." The Center explains "[w]e are an office of 17 employees and there is no other employee in the office with a law degree and authorized to practice in Massachusetts." Conclusion The Center is advised that under the Public Records Law, an agency records access officer must provide a written response to the requester within ten business days ofreceipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b ). In this response the records access officer may identify a reasonable timeframe in which it shall produce the public records sought; provided, that for an agency the timeframe shall not exceed fifteen business days following the initial receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vi). The requestor may voluntarily agree to a response date beyond these timeframes. See id. Based on the documents provided in the petition, it is unclear whether the Center can provide responsive records within fifteen business days of the receipt of the November 13, 2020 request as allowed in G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vi), or if the requestor agreed to a date beyond that timeframe. Also, the Center has not explained how many responsive records exist nor described the scope of any potential redaction. G. L. c. 66, § 10( c )(i)-(ii). Further, the Center has not demonstrated that it complied with the requirement to furnish a copy of this petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10( c ). I understand a member of the Public Records Division contacted you but was unable to obtain a clarification regarding this matter. Therefore, I am unable to grant the Center's petition at this time. See G. L. c. 66 § lO(c) (i)-(vi). The Center is advised it must seek another petition for extension if it cannot provide responsive records within fifteen business days of the receipt of the request or if Michael Singer

Beth Nicklas, Esq. SPR20/0306 Page 3 February 24, 2020 does not agree to an extension of time. See G. L. c. 66 § lO(c). The Center must re-submit such a petition within ten business days after receipt of this determination. Id. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Michael Singer