Mary Dormer v. Carver, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20210653)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 24, 2021 SPR21/0653 Cara Dahill Town Clerk Town of Carver 108 Main Street Carver, MA 01773 Dear Ms. Dahill: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Carver (Town) seeking relief from its obligation to produce responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). As required by law, the Town furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). On February 8, 2021, Mary Dormer originally requested information regarding “the number of freezers at the COA, an inventory of food, receipts for food, all financial information for the COA, including any donations and subsidiaries provided by the Friends of Carver from 2013 to the present. Provide a full accounting of all monies received and spent from 2013 to the present. Provide a job description for the person or persons who provide outreach, actives coordinator, food services, meals on wheels or any other outreach program for the senior population of the Town of Carver.” 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; 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

Cara Dahill SPR21/0653 Page 2 March 24, 2021 (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, § 10(c). If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. 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 March 17, 2021 petition, the Town requests to be “absolved of responding to Public Records Requests from Mary Dormer.” The Town states the request involves “receiving 16 requests within 26 business days (37 calendar days). The frequency and volume included in these requests has brought to our attention that it appears the Public Records Law is not being used in good faith.” The Town further explains they have “spent a minimum of 50 hours of employee time, researching, discussing, compiling and scanning in order to respond in a timely manner so as not to be in non-compliance with the Public Records Law. Many of the items requested do not exist and although we are responding by giving the information we do have that is as close as possible to what is being requested, we are now being accused of being 'retaliatory' and 'harassing'.” The Town believes the requests are “causing a disturbance for all staff involved, particularly the finance department which has to meet weekly deadlines, as well as the Select Board office.” Based on the information provided in the March 17th petition, I find that the Town has not demonstrated the requests are frivolous and not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, as required by G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). Further, please be 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). 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).

Cara Dahill SPR21/0653 Page 3 March 24, 2021 Conclusion In light of the above, I cannot grant the Town’s petition seeking relief from its obligation to produce responsive records at this time. Please note, this office may deny an appeal if, in the opinion of the Supervisor of Records, the request is designed or intended to harass, intimidate, or assist in the commission of a crime. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b)(2). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Mary Dormer