Jonathan M. Silverstein v. Westminster, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20253430)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records November 25, 2025 SPR25/3430 Brian W. Riley, Esq. KP Law 101 Arch Street, 12th Floor Boston, MA 02110 Dear Attorney Riley: On November 19, 2025, this office received your petition on behalf of the Town of Westminster (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, Attorney Jonathan M. Silverstein, of Blatman, Bobrowski, Haverty & Silverstein, LLC. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On November 6, 2025, Attorney Silverstein requested the following records: [1] All audio or video recordings of the Westminster Planning Board meeting held on November 4, 2025[;] [2] All correspondence, emails, text messages or other written or electronic communications sent or received by any Town official from January 1, 2025, to the present containing any of the following search terms: “Honey Bee”, “Gallagher”, “Seal Harbor”, “Generations”, “Richinick”, “Wintturi”[;] [3] All notes, memoranda, analyses, reports or other documents containing any of the search terms listed in the preceding paragraph[;] [4] All records of the Planning Board or Planning Department concerning the application of Seal Harbor, LLC, for endorsement of a plan of land on Worcester Road (Route 140) and Honey Bee Lane as “Approval Not Required,” pursuant to G.L. c. 41, § 81P[;] [5] All public official liability insurance policies in effect as of November 4, 2025. 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

Brian W. Riley, Esq. SPR25/3430 Page 2 November 25, 2025 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 of time for the Administrator to respond to the request to January 5, 2026” and provides the following information in support of its request: [The Administrator] has determined that the responsive records within her custody include a little over 3,000 emails, many of which are likely subject to the Attorney/Client Privilege requiring a privilege log. She has also determined that she is the appropriate person to perform the search and segregation of these emails. [A]s of November 18, 2025, however, the Administrator will be taking a leave of absence to deal with a significant medical issue and surgery. She anticipates being

Brian W. Riley, Esq. SPR25/3430 Page 3 November 25, 2025 out of the office until at least December 15th, but after that she will only be able to work part-time until sometime in January 2026. Given the broad and numerous responsibilities of her office, the Administrator anticipates substantial difficulties in keeping up with her regular duties while working part-time, much less the estimated 8 hours to respond to this records request. In light of the need to collect, segregate and examine the records, as well as 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 30 business days. Conclusion As described above, I find that the Town has established good cause for a time extension of 30 business days. Please note, Attorney Silverstein 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: Jonathan M. Silverstein, Esq. Stephanie Lahtinen