Stanley Mazurczyk v. Chelmsford, Town of - Town Manager (SPR 20211105)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records May 13, 2021 SPR21/1105 Paul E. Cohen Town Manager Town of Chelmsford 50 Billerica Road Chelmsford, MA 01824 Dear Mr. Cohen: I have received the petition of Stanley Mazurczyk appealing the response of the Town of Chelmsford (Town) to a request. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 16, 2021, Mr. Mazurczyk filed a request through the FOIA Direct portal, stating: “[t]he street in front of my property, [identified road address], is full of runoff debris because of drainage problem. Debris accumulates at low point(s) of the street in front of my property. I’ve seen no evidence of the street being swept this year. Has [the identified road] in front of my property been swept this year? What are you going to do about the runoff issue and debris accumulation? I expect to hear from you informing me how you plan to resolve those issues.” The Town provided a March 18, 2021 response informing Mr. Mazurczyk that no responsive documents were found for this request. Under the Public Records Law, 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). The Town is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. In addition, a public employee is not required to answer questions, or do research, or create documents in response to questions. See G. L. c. 4, § 7(26); 32 Op. Att’y Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977). Where the Town indicates that it does not possess responsive records regarding Mr. Mazurczyk’s March 16, 2021 request, I find that Mr. Mazurczyk’s appeal regarding the March 16th request is resolved. Conclusion Accordingly, 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

Paul E. Cohen SPR21/1105 Page 2 May 13, 2021 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Stanley Mazurczyk