Mark Del Franco v. Provincetown, Town of - Office of the Town Clerk (SPR 20210067)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 26, 2021 SPR21/0067 Emmett Catanese Town Clerk Town of Provincetown 260 Commercial Street Provincetown, MA 02657 Dear Mr. Catanese: I have received the petition of Mark Del Franco appealing the response of the Town of Provincetown (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Mr. Del Franco requested certain records involving the Select Board. The Town provided a January 11, 2021 response, including records responsive to Mr. Del Franco’s request. As a result of the response and production of the records, Mr. Del Franco petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) and this appeal was opened. In his January 11, 2021 petition, Mr. Del Franco indicates that several requests were either partially or not supplied. In a conversation, between the Town’s Legal Counsel, Janelle Austin of KP Law, P.C. and a Senior Attorney in the Public Records Division, this office was informed that Mr. Del Franco was provided with all the records responsive to his December 22, 2020 requests numbered 1, 4, 5, and 9. In addition, this office was informed that the Town has no records responsive to Mr. Del Franco’s requests numbered 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 10. Mr. Del Franco is advised, under the Public Records Law a custodian is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d). In addition, a public employee is not required to answer questions, or do research, or create documents in response to questions. See 32 Op. Atty Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977). The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). Conclusion Where the Town has provided all the records in its possession that are responsive to Mr. Del Franco’s request, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. 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

Emmett Catanese, Town Clerk SPR21/0067 Page 2 January 26, 2021 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Mark Del Franco Janelle Austin, Esq., KP Law, P.C.