Christopher Weeks v. Ashland, Town of - Office of the Town Clerk (SPR 20250255)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records January 30, 2025 SPR24/0255 Cindy Livingstone Town Clerk Town of Ashland 101 Main Street Ashland, MA 01721 Dear Ms. Livingstone: On January 28, 2025, this office received your petition on behalf of the Town of Ashland (Town) 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 Town furnished a copy of the petition to the requestor, Christopher Weeks. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On January 24, 2024, Mr. Weeks requested: [1] Any and all emails, letters, or other communications among town officials, including the police department, town manager, and other departments, that mention or reference [an identified individual] or any related pseudonyms or aliases, from January 1, 2020, to the present date. This includes any internal and external correspondence regarding harassment, defamation, or malicious activities directed at [identified individuals][;] [2] Reports or records related to investigations conducted by the Framingham Police Department or other law enforcement agencies within the town of Ashland that involve activities connected to [an identified individual] or similar aliases. This includes reports of harassment, cyberstalking, defamation, or other related offenses[;] [3] Copies of any public records requests, responses, or correspondence submitted or processed related to the name [an identified individual] or similar aliases, from January 1, 2020, to the present date[;] [4] Complaint forms, internal investigations, or reports related to harassment, online defamation, or similar activities that may have been filed by [an identified individual] or others involving [an identified individual] or similar aliases[;] 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

Cindy Livingstone SPR25/0255 Page 2 January 30, 2025 [5] Any documents that describe or reference public records requests or responses where [an identified individual] was mentioned in connection with defamation, harassment, or malicious online activities, particularly related to myself or other local individuals[;] [6] Any documents that describe or reference actions taken by the town, its police department, or officials to address harassment, stalking, defamation, or malicious activities attributed to [an identified individual] or individuals using this alias[.] 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 (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 Town requests “an extension per G.L. c. 66 §10(c) of an additional 15 business days” and argues the following in support of its request:

Cindy Livingstone SPR25/0255 Page 3 January 30, 2025 Given the time needed to search and review responsive records for this, it is estimated that it will take the Town longer than the 10 business days allowed by the Public Records Law. Subsequently, in an email to this office on January 29, 2025, the Town provided the following additional information: I received four other extensive requests. While I didn’t petition for extensions on those, they consumed a significant amount of time due to the need to: Thoroughly review numerous emails for embedded requests[;] Search for responsive records[;] Format and redact responses[.] These demands have unfortunately detracted from my core Town Clerk duties. Given the exceptional scope of this latest request, I believe it’s simply not feasible to provide a comprehensive response within the standard 10 business days. Conclusion Based on the information provided in the Town’s January 28th petition, I find it is unnecessary to opine on the Town’s extension request. In this case, the Town intends to provide responsive records within twenty five (25) business days of the receipt of the request, as allowed in G. L. c. 66 § 10(b)(vi). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vi) (records access officer may identify a reasonable timeframe for producing records not to exceed 25 business days following initial receipt of the request). Please note, Mr. Weeks 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: Christopher Weeks