Amy Troup v. Halifax, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20210938)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 15, 2021 SPR21/0938 Charles Seelig Town Administrator Town of Halifax 499 Plymouth Street Halifax, MA 02338 Dear Mr. Seelig: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Halifiax (Town) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of the requested public 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 provided a copy of the petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). In three requests received by the Town on April 7, 2021, Amy Troup requested: Request One: All correspondence to the Planning Board from attorneys representing the Town of Halifax including but not limited to Attorney Larry Mayo and Attorney Amy Kwesell for 1) the period of April 8, 2020 to April 7, 2021 including but not limited to a specific e-mail from Attorney Mayo to the Planning Board on April 1, 2021 All e-mails for which Planning Board Chair Alan Dias and Bob Paquette are correspondents (mentioned in the To, From, or CC fields) 2) All e-mails for which Planning Board members Gordon R. Andrews, Alan Dias, Rick Merry, Mark Millias, Amy Troup, and Fire Chief Jason Viveiros are correspondents 3) All e-mails for which Town Administrator Charlie Seelig and Planning Board Chair Alan Dias are correspondents 4) All e-mails for which Planning Board secretary Jo-Ann Snow and Planning Board Chair Alan Dias are correspondents 5) All e-mails for which Zoning Enforcement Officer Robert Piccirilli, Regulatory Administrative Assistant Theresa Renaud, and one or more members of the Planning 6) Board (said members are Gordon R. Andrews, Alan Dias, Rick Merry, Mark Millias, Amy Troup) are correspondents All e-mails for which Selectman Gordon C. Andrews and Alan Dias are correspondents All e-mails for which Selectman Troy E. Garron and Alan Dias are correspondents 7) 8) 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

Charlie Seelig SPR21/0938 Page 2 April 15, 2021 All e-mails for which Selectman Thomas Millias and Alan Dias are correspondents 9) Request Two: Please send us communication and the emails between applicant and Alan Request Three: Can you please forward the plan signed in 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. 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 requester within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Status of the requestor; reason for the request Please note that the reason for which a requestor seeks access to or a copy of a public record does not afford any greater right of access to the requested information than other persons in the general public. The Public Records Law does not distinguish between requestors. Access to a record pursuant to the Public Records Law rests on the content of the record and not the circumstances of the requestor. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); see also Bougas v. Chief of Police of Lexington, 371 Mass. ------------------------------ 59, 64 (1976). Therefore, Ms. Troup’s interest in obtaining these records shall have no bearing on

Charlie Seelig SPR21/0938 Page 3 April 15, 2021 the public nature of the record. Where Ms. Troup seeks these records for the Planning Board, she may wish to consider another means of seeking to obtain any existing responsive records. Current petition In the Town’s petition dated April 13th, you explain that there are a number of “municipal officials who are invovlved and the length and breadth of the request.” As an example, you indcate that “a preliminary search of just #4 [under request one] resulted in finding almost 500 e- mails.” Given the scope of this request, you petitioned this office for an extention of “30 business days.” Conclusion Accordingly, I hereby grant the Town an extension of 30 business days to furnish copies of records responsive to Ms. Troup’s request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). The Town is advised it must provide the records in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. To the extent possible, the Town must provide responsive records on a rolling basis. Ms. Troup may seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(c), 10A(c). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Amy Troup