Kathy Horigan v. Acton, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20231681)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records July 26, 2023 SPR23/1681 Leo Mercado Records Access Officer Town of Acton Town Hall 472 Main Street Acton, MA 01720 Dear Mr. Mercado: On July 21, 2023, this office received your petition on behalf of the Town of Acton (Town) seeking an extension of time to produce records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). As required by law, the Department furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. Id. On June 25, 2023, Kathy Horigan requested “all correspondence from [named individuals] regarding my employment, duties, job description, performance & also when my name is referenced or alluded to, including mentioning my name in an email of any type.” Ms. Horigan specified that her request “includes any instance where emails I sent to them were forwarded to someone else with or without comment.” 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; (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 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

Leo Mercado SPR23/1681 Page 2 July 26, 2023 (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) must 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 July 21st petition, the Town requests an extension of 15 business days and provides the following information in support of its request: We are asking for [an extension of time] in relation to a request from an individual, former employee, requesting all emails sent and received by this individual. This is approximately 2,000 emails that need to be screened to ensure the privacy of some of our senior citizen residents. As sited in Chapter 40, section 8b, MA General Laws The [sic] names, addresses, telephone numbers, or other identifying information about elderly persons in the possession of the council shall not be public records…. This proves to be a very timely process. We have one individual that is trained to be able to process all of these emails and ensure the security of our most vulnerable residents. Please note that in an email to this office and the Town on July 21, 2023, Ms. Horigan objected to the Town’s request for an extension of time. I find that in light of the need to collect and segregate the records, as well as the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure and the capacity of the Town to produce the records without an extension, the Town has established good cause to permit an extension of time. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c)(i)-(iii). The Town is granted an extension of 15 business days. Conclusion As described above, I find that the Town has established good cause for a time extension of 15 business days. Please note, Ms. Horigan 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).

Leo Mercado SPR23/1681 Page 3 July 26, 2023 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Kathy Horigan