BelmontMA FOIA v. Belmont, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20202350)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 14, 2020 SPR20/2350 Ellen O’Brien Cushman Town of Belmont Town Hall Office of the Town Clerk 455 Concord Avenue Belmont, MA 02478 Dear Ms. O’Brien Cushman: I have received the petition of a requestor appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Belmont Office of the Town Clerk (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on October 22, 2020, the requestor sought the following records within the possession of the Town: • Written policies that govern which specific FOIA requests are both made public and private to the named website; • A copy of the FOIA requests on named website that are marked private for the year 2020. A representative of the Town provided a partial response dated November 5, 2020. The requestor clarified the request to the Town on November 6 and 10, 2020. Claiming to not yet have received responsive records, the requestor petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR20/2350, was opened as a result. Despite being notified via email and telephone by a staff member of the Public Records Division in regards to this appeal, SPR20/2350, the Town has yet to provide a response with respect to the requestor’s October 22, 2020 request. Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide the requestor with said response within ten (10) business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. The requestor may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). 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

Ms. Ellen O’Brien Cushman SPR20/2350 Page 2 December 14, 2020 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: BelmontMA FOIA