Timothy A. Toomey v. Rowley, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20212019)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 24, 2021 SPR21/2019 Catherine M. McClenaghan Town Clerk Town of Rowley 139 Main Street Rowley, MA 01969 Dear Ms. McClenaghan: I have received the petition of Timothy Toomey appealing the response of the Town of Rowley (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On June 8, 2021, Mr. Toomey requested: “…all information relating to Town of Rowley electric light department bills or invoices for the property located at [named address] under any names including and not limited to, [named person and named location] services over the last 6 months. This includes light poles rental fees or power useage.” Prior appeals The responsive records were the subject of prior appeals. See SPR21/1824 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (August 6, 2021); See SPR21/1560 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (July 8, 2021). In my August 6th determination, I ordered the Town to provide a supplemental response. On August 9, 2021, the Town responded. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Toomey appealed and SPR21/2019 was opened as a result. The Town’s August 9th response On August 9th the Town provided a response stating, “…RMLP reiterates in this response that it does not maintain records identifying who has made payments on which customer accounts. Accordingly, there are no records responsive to that aspect of his request.” Current Appeal In his current appeal Mr. Toomey states, “all records include and are not limited to things for record information such as meter readings, who took readings[sic] and payments such as they supplied in the previous records.” 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

Catherine M. McClenaghan. SPR21/2019 Page 2 August 24, 2021 Based on the Town’s response, it is unclear if it possesses additional records responsive to the above request. 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 Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Toomey with a response to his request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Timothy Toomey Diedre Lawrence, Esq.