Banana Nebula v. Townsend, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20251836)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records July 3, 2025 SPR25/1836 Harrison C. Mayotte Town Clerk Town of Townsend 272 Main Street Townsend, MA 01469 Dear Mr. Mayotte: I have received the petition of Banana Nebula (requestor) appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Townsend (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On June 8, 2025, the requestor sought: [A]ll email communications and associated metadata exchanged between [two identified individuals] during the time period of 1/1/24 to 6/8/25. [1] Any emails sent by or received by: [two identified individuals] using her official town email address[;]any personal email address that has been used to conduct townrelated Business[;]any email address associated with his role as Town Counsel, including any addresses used by his law firm or contracted municipal legal service provider[;]using any personal email address if used for public business[.] [2] Communication Direction and Format: Emails sent directly, CC’d, or BCC’d between the parties[;] [f]orwarded emails containing any substantive commentary or context by either party[;] [a]ttachments included in the correspondence[;] [a]ny embedded calendar invites, links, or shared documents[;] [t]hreaded conversations where either party is included at any point, even if not on the initial message[.] [3] Any communication sent through or archived on: Official town Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or equivalent municipal email systems[;] [t]hird-party accounts used for municipal purposes (e.g., personal Gmail accounts that have been used for public business)[;] [a]ny email system or device used by Town Counsel under contract with the Town[.] 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

Harrison C. Mayotte SPR25/1836 Page 2 July 3, 2025 [4] [A]vailable metadata such as: Sender and recipient email addresses[;] [d]ate and time stamps[;] [s]ubject lines[;] [m]essage ID headers (if retrievable)[;] [a]ny records of automatic deletion or message archiving policies that may apply[.] Claiming to not yet have received responsive records, the requestor petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/1836, was opened as a result. Subsequently, I learned that the Town provided the requestor with a response on July 2, 2025. Where this appeal was opened as a result of the Town’s lack of a written response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. The requestor may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Banana Nebula