Sharon Tavares v. Halifax, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20220280)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 22, 2022 SPR22/0280 Ed Thorne Interim Town Administrator Town of Halifax 499 Plymouth Street Halifax, MA 01757 Dear Mr. Thorne I have received the petition of Sharon Tavares appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Halifax (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 4, 2022, Ms. Tavares requested. “… a copy of the Board of Selectman meeting minutes for 8/24/2021 ...” Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within 10 business days of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)-(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § l0(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Despite being notified of the opening of this appeal and a communication from a member of the Public Records Division staff, it is unclear whether a response has been provided. Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Ms. Tavares with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 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: Sharon Tavares 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