Nathan Herschler v. Barnstable, Town of - Town Attorney (SPR 20251586)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records June 10, 2025 SPR25/1586 Allison M. Cogliano, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor Town of Barnstable 367 Main Street Hyannis, MA 02601 Dear Attorney Cogliano: On June 5, 2025, this office received your petition on behalf of the Town of Barnstable (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, Nathan Herschler. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On May 16, 2025, Mr. Herschler sought, “[a]ll electronic, digital, and written communications (emails, text messages, letters, social media messages, and messages exchanged via platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Facebook Messenger, or similar applications) between [identified individuals].” In an email sent to the Town on June 5, 2025, Mr. Herschler objected to the Town’s petition. 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; 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

Allison Cogliano, Esq. SPR25/1586 Page 2 June 10, 2025 (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 of thirty (30) business days to provide the responsive records.” Upon initial searches conducted by our IT department as well as by the subject Town Councilors, a current total of 439 emails and 143 pages of text messages have resulted and are to be segregated for responsiveness and redacted. The Town estimated approximately 3 minutes per email/page of text messages to review for responsiveness as well as for privacy information pursuant to G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(c) as well as G.L. c. 66, §10B, which is statutorily required. The Town has issued a fee estimate which Mr. Hershler [sic] paid on June 4, 2025. This task will profoundly burden the IT and Legal Departments and will hinder each department’s ability to timely address its other day-to-day responsibilities. Accordingly, the Town is submitting this petition for an extension of time of thirty (30) business days to provide the responsive records. This will bring our due date from June 26, 2025 to August 8, 2025. In light of the need to collect and examine the records, 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)-(iv). The Town is granted an extension of 30 business days. Conclusion As described above, I find that the Town has established good cause for a time extension of 30 business days.

Allison Cogliano, Esq. SPR25/1586 Page 3 June 10, 2025 Please note, Mr. Herschler 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: Nathan Herschler