Patrick D. McPhee v. Pepperell, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20211473)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records June 24, 2021 SPR21/1473 Brynn Montesanti Town Clerk Town of Pepperell 1 Main Street Pepperell, MA 01463 Dear Brynn Montesanti: I have received the petition of Patrick McPhee appealing the response of the Town of Pepperell (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On May 20, 2021, Mr. McPhee requested “any/all information, including but not limited to the emails (sent/received), attachments, text messages, minutes between the Town of Ashby Employee/volunteers and the Town of Pepperell Dispatch center and employees between Jan 1, 2021 and May 20, 2021.” His request “include[d] the information discussed at the Town of Pepperell Dispatch center meeting Feb 4, 2021 on the grants for the Town of Ashby.” The Town responded on May 27, 2021. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. McPhee appealed, and this case was opened as a result. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). “Public records” is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be 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

Brynn Montesanti SPR21/1473 Page 2 June 24, 2021 provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. The Town’s May 27th Response In its May 27, 2021 response, the Town “request[ed] that [Mr. McPhee] narrow down [his] search parameters by supplying some type of keywords to look for- to just search those employee emails is too vague in that it could be thousands and thousands of emails that [the Town] would have no choice but to have a senior member of the dispatch center review for redaction.” Current Appeal In an email to the Town included with his appeal petition, Mr. McPhee states: Emails between Dispatch board members shouldn’t contain any police/fire privacy issues. This is a Mass Attorney General Open Meeting Law for access to all documents between members, to ensure there is no quorum violations. For privacy there should be security accounts used for outside the committee members needs. Emails to Ashby officials pertaining to the Dispatch grants shouldn’t contain privacy issues. Open Meeting Law Mr. McPhee raises issues in his appeal potentially related to the Open Meeting Law. See G. L. c. 30A, § 22(f). Given that an interpretation of the Open Meeting Law falls within the authority of the Office of the Attorney General and not this office, I decline to address those issues in this determination. See G. L. c. 30A, § 23. Reasonable Modification of the Scope of Request In its May 27th response, the Town asked if Mr. McPhee was able to narrow the scope of his request for emails. This office encourages Mr. McPhee and the Town to continue to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii) (a municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the municipality to produce the records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. McPhee with a response to his request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us.

Brynn Montesanti SPR21/1473 Page 3 June 24, 2021 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Patrick McPhee