Judy Patterson v. Chatham, Town of (SPR 20220894)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 29, 2022 SPR22/0894 Jill R. Goldsmith Town Manager Town of Chatham 549 Main Street Chatham, MA 02633 Dear Ms. Goldsmith: I have received the petition of Judy Patterson appealing the response of the Town of Chatham (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 3, 2022, Ms. Patterson sent the Town a request for records. The Town asked Ms. Patterson to provide clarification. On March 20th, Ms. Patterson reworded her request to include information from September 1, 2011 to the present, specifically: “The results of all suits and or tort claims alleged for non-performance or breach of contract for or related to any and all work orders of the [Town] by third-party contractors, or otherwise. Please identify all legal costs associated with the referenced actions, and include all settlements made for or on behalf of the [Town] by, for or through its insurance underwriters, as well as settlements paid directly or indirectly by the Town. I am also looking for all legal and associated/incidental expenses including an estimate of staff hours that have been expended to date with ongoing litigation, including but not limited to The Fish Pier, 90 Bridge Street, and the airport; In addition, please provide all costs incurred by, for, or on behalf of the Town, or any of its salaried employees, the Board of Selectmen, or Town Counsel related to adverse personnel actions as alleged to have been committed by the Town or its representative for the years, inclusive; and On an annualized basis, please identify the number of employees that separated from the Town during the same period, and identify the number of those separations that were voluntary and the number that were involuntary.” On March 25th, the Town acknowledged Ms. Patterson’s March 20th request. On April 12th, Ms. Patterson emailed the Town asking if the records were being compiled. As a result of 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

Jill R. Goldsmith SPR22/0894 Page 2 April 29, 2022 not receiving any response to her April 12th email, Ms. Patterson petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and his appeal was opened. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, on April 22nd, Alexandra H. Heilala, the Town’s Finance Director provided a response. In its April 22nd response and referring to Ms. Patterson’s March 20th request, the Town indicates it understands Ms. Patterson’s request as, “the number of lawsuits filed against the Town since September 1, 2011, settlements regarding each legal case, the number of employees who have left the [Town] and the reason for employment separation from the Town, the costs of employee legal dispute settlements, and the total annual legal costs paid to any and all legal counsel paid by the Town.” It is unclear whether the Town possesses any records responsive to this request. The Town must clarify. 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). In accordance with the Public Records Law, custodians are expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requestors in obtaining the desired information. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5). I encourage the parties to work together to resolve Ms. Patterson’s request for records and/or information. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Ms. Patterson with a response to her March 20th response, 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: Judy Patterson