Todd Wallack v. Boston Housing Authority (SPR 20232940)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 12, 2023 SPR23/2940 Dean Papademetriou, Esq. General Counsel Public Records Manager Boston Housing Authority 52 Chauncey Street Boston, MA 02111 Dear Attorney Papademetriou: On December 5, 2023, this office received your petition on behalf of the Boston Housing Authority (Authority/BHA) seeking an extension of time to produce records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, it is my understanding that the Authority furnished a copy of the petition to the requestor, Todd Wallack, of WBUR. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On October 26, 2023, Mr. Wallack requested the following records: [1] All email or other correspondence between Boston Housing Authority officials and the state Department of Housing and Community Development with the phrase waiver, fine or “Vacancy System” since January 1, 2019[;] [2] Copies of the Boston Housing Authority annual reports for the past four (4) years[.] Previous Appeal This request was the subject of an appeal. See SPR23/2861 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (December 8, 2023). Please refer to the determination in SPR23/2861 for analysis of this matter. 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 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

Dean Papademetriou, Esq. SPR23/2940 Page 2 December 12, 2023 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 (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 petition, the Authority is seeking “an extension of time to respond to a public records request and furnish the requested records to Todd Wallack.” In support of its request, the Authority provides the following information: [We] have been making great progress in reviewing the documents. Because of the broad search terms, many unresponsive documents were included in the batch, but [we] are working through reviewing them. [We] respectfully request an extension of ten business days from the date of our request, December 5, 2023, to provide the responsive documents. … [D]ue to the broadness of the search terms (waiver, fine or “vacancy system”) and the long time period (almost five years from January 1, 2019 to the present), the BHA has to follow a multi-prong search process, involving several employees and departments. … [T]he search has resulted in over 1,000 emails that need to be examined. While the number of emails that will need to be redacted to prevent unlawful disclosure

Dean Papademetriou, Esq. SPR23/2940 Page 3 December 12, 2023 will probably be low, the sheer number of emails generated by the terms in the PRR and the time period is making the redaction process quite lengthy. … [T]he BHA does not have staff dedicated to responding to PRRs. The BHA has one paralegal who works on PRRs in addition to attending to her other job duties. Thus, it is not possible to produce the requested records without an extension. [We] have reviewed close to half of the emails produced. The BHA has already pulled its annual reports for the past four years and will immediately produce these records to the Requester. In light of the need to collect, segregate and examine the records, as well as the capacity of the Authority to produce the records without an extension, the Authority has established good cause to permit an extension of time. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c)(i)-(iv). The Authority is granted an extension of 10 business days. Conclusion As described above, I find that the Authority has established good cause for a time extension of 10 business days. Please note, Mr. Wallack 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: Todd Wallack