Adam J. Brodsky v. Hingham, Town of - (SPR 20200593)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 3, 2020 SPR20/0593 John J. Coughlin, Esq. Town of Hingham Bogle, DeAscentis & Coughlin, P.C. 57 North Main Street Fall River, MA 02720-2129 Dear Attorney Coughlin: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Hingham (Town) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of a requested 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 furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. Specifically, on March 13, 2020, Attorney Adam Brodsky requested various categories of records pertaining to “the Town of Hingham’s …maintenance dredging project in Hingham Harbor…” for 2009-2010, as well as 2019-2020. 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

John J. Coughlin, Esq. SPR20/0593 Page 2 April 3, 2020 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 requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Please note, a business day does not include a weekday where a custodian’s office is unexpectedly closed. 950 C.M.R. 32.02. Current petition In its March 27, 2020 petition, the Town requests “an extension of time to respond to the attached request until the state of emergency is rescinded by the Governor of Massachusetts.” The Town explains “on March 10, 2020 the Governor of Massachusetts declared a state of emergency in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 and has subsequently issued numerous orders limiting activities within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In response, the Town of Hingham has closed Town Hall and other Town Facilities which contain the Town’s public records and is operating on a limited basis with most employees working remotely. Therefore, the Town is unable to respond to the attached public records request at this time but will do so upon the future opening of Town Hall and other Town Facilities and the return of its employees to normal operations.” I find that in light of 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, § 10(b)(vi). 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 and as soon as practicable. The requestor may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s 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, § 10A(c). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Adam Brodsky, Esq.