Jeremy Evans v. Belmont, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20251178)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records May 1, 2025 SPR25/1178 Ellen O’Brien Cushman Town Clerk Town of Belmont 455 Concord Avenue Belmont, MA 02478 Dear Ms. O’Brien Cushman: On April 29, 2025, this office received your petition on behalf of the Town of Belmont (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, Jeremy Evans. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). In separate requests on April 1, 2025, Mr. Evans requested for the time period of February 20, 2024 to March 15, 2024, [c]opies of all electronic or written communications made, sent or received on [B]elmont communication systems that: [1] Mention [an identified individual] or any variations thereof; [2] Reference media reports regarding a Belmont man arrested for lewd behavior that appeared in the Boston Globe on March 8, 2024 and on WCVB TV on March 7th (collectively referred to herein as, “Media Reports”); or [3] Were sent to the Belmont teachers, parents, or community members that reference Media Reports including drafts of those messages or discussions regarding the preparation of those communications. 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

Ellen O’Brien Cushman SPR25/1178 Page 2 May 1, 2025 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 of time and argues the following in support of its request: Reason for this petition: The original Public Records Request from the requester was sent by email to my personal work email on April 1, 2025, the date of our Town Election. To be honest, I completely missed the email until I was reviewing my emails yesterday and realized that it was the first time I was seeing it AND that the first ten days had passed on April 15th. A further search revealed another email from the requester April 16th, it happened to be the date of a petitioned Recount, inquiring about his request but had gone to spam. Upon finding the request, I immediately entered the information from the email into the NextRequest portal, issued the receipt to the requester and phoned Public Records for advice. The receipt has been received and opened by the requester. I therefore submit a Petition for Time to allow the Town to respond to the Public Records Request. The Town of Belmont fully intends to conduct the requested search of requested however due to the extensive nature of the request, shown below, it will take time

Ellen O’Brien Cushman SPR25/1178 Page 3 May 1, 2025 for the Town departments to search for, review for applicability and likely redact from the electronic communications in order to fulfill the request. The specific request requires research for responsive records from many Town departments, including the Town departments, Schools and Police, each of which has a separate IT staff, requiring coordination that will also take time. Subsequently, in an email to this office on April 30, 2025, the Town clarifies that it seek an extension of 15 business days. In light of 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, Mr. Evans 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: Jeremy Evans