Richard Mills v. Springfield Housing Authority (SPR 20243158)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records November 26, 2024 SPR24/3158 Fidan Gousseynoff Executive Department Manager Springfield Housing Authority 60 Congress Street P. O. Box 1609 Springfield, MA 01104-1609 Dear Ms. Gousseynoff: On November 21, 2024, this office received your petition on behalf of the Springfield Housing Authority (Authority) 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, Richard Mills. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On November 6, 2024 Mr. Mills requested the following: 1. Annual Financial Statements[;] 2. Auditor reports[;] 3. Annual Operating Budgets detailing fund allocations and expenditures for the past five years, Funding Sources and Reserves[;] 4. Liabilities and Outstanding Debts[;] 5. Insurance Policies: Details of any liability or other insurance policies, including coverage limits[;] 6. Records of significant legal settlements or judgments paid, including amounts, for the past five years[;] 7. HUD Funding Compliance Reports, and Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) Scores and Assessments (2015-2024)[;] 8. Records of disciplinary actions or formal complaints involving [identified individuals], and their District D team over the past five years. 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 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

Fidan Gousseynoff SPR24/3158 Page 2 November 26, 2024 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 (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 requests, “an additional 10 business days to respond to a request for records from Mr. Richard Mills.” In support of its request the Authority provides the following information: [the request] includes a lot of items. Collecting, sorting out and redacting requested records requires a lot of time and we are still waiting for some information from our General Counsel. As you might understand, our staff and our attorney have to deal with a lot of legal matters, emergency situations as well as with regular daily tasks and deadlines to serve our residents and we are doing our best to respond to the request as quickly as possible. In the last three months, Mr. Mills has submitted numerous requests for a lot of records and we were spending a lot of hours to collect everything and were responding to his requests and providing a lot of information, but we do need more time to respond to his most recent request. 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, and efforts undertaken by the

Fidan Gousseynoff SPR24/3158 Page 3 November 26, 2024 Authority in fulfilling the current request, 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. Mills 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: Richard Mills