Dan Albert v. Marblehead, Town of (SPR 20222937)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 29, 2022 SPR22/2937 Kyle Wiley Records Access Officer Town of Marblehead Abbot Hall 188 Washington Street Marblehead, MA 01945 Dear Ms. Wiley: I have received a petition filed by Alexander M. Castro, Esq., of Mead, Talerman & Costa LLC, on behalf of the Town of Marblehead seeking an extension of time to produce records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). As required by law, it is my understanding that the Town furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor, Dan Albert. Id. On October 14, 2022, Mr. Albert requested “[a]ny and all minutes and records of the [Town’s] Complete Streets Committee meetings. These should include but are not limited to minutes taken by [T]own officials and meeting notes and/or documentation generated by Stantec Consulting Engineers.” Previous Appeal This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR22/2730 Determination of the Supervisor (December 12, 2022). In my December 12th determination, I ordered the Town to provide Mr. Albert with a response to his request. Subsequently, the Town petitioned this office seeking an extension of time to provide responsive records. Petition for an Extension of Time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; 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

Kyle Wiley SPR22/2937 Page 2 December 29, 2022 (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Current Petition In its December 22nd petition, the Town seeks an extension of thirty days to produce responsive records. The Town asserts: Please be advised that the Town is working diligently to comply with your order; however doing so requires, inter alia, a meeting of the Town’s select board, which, due to the holiday scheduling constraints and a recent wave of COVID-19, will not be able to meet until January 18, 2023. Based on the Town’s petition, I find that in light of the capacity of the Town to produce the request without the extension, and the efforts undertaken by the Town in fulfilling the current request, it has established good cause to permit an extension of time. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c) (iii)- (iv). The Town is granted an extension of 30 business days. Conclusion Accordingly, I find the Town has established good cause for a time extension of 30 business days as described above. This office encourages Mr. Albert and the Town to communicate directly in order to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii) (an agency shall suggest a reasonable modification to the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency to produce

Kyle Wiley SPR22/2937 Page 3 December 29, 2022 records sought more efficiently and affordably). Please note, Mr. Albert has the right to seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(c), 10(d)(iv)(4), 10A(c). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Dan Albert Alexander M. Castro, Esq.