Herschler, Nathan v. Barnstable, Town of - Town Attorney (SPR 20260199)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records January 27, 2026 SPR26/0199 Allison M. Cogliano Assistant Town Attorney Town of Barnstable 367 Main Street Hyannis, MA 02601 Dear Attorney Cogliano: On January 21, 2026, 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, I understand that the Town furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor, Nathan Herschler. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On August 18, 2025, Mr. Herschler requested the following: …for the period from January 1, 2024 through August 18, 2025: [1] All 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 [an identified individual] (Barnstable Watch) or [an identified individual] (Barnstable Unofficial) with [identified] Councilors or [an identified] ZBA Board Member. [2] Any attachments or related files transmitted or referenced in such communications. [3] Any calendar invitations, meeting agendas, meeting notes, summaries, or other records reflecting interactions or discussions between the above-mentioned parties. 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: 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. SPR26/0199 Page 2 January 27, 2026 (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) shall provide an initial response to a requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(b). Current Petition In its petition, the Town requests an extension of 30 business days and provides the following information in support of its request: The Town’s I.T. Department has identified approximately 1,425 pages of communications which may be responsive to the above-mentioned criteria in addition to 500 pages of attachments included in those communications, totaling 1,925 pages for review. The Town estimated it would take approximately 1 minute per page to segregate the resulting communications to ensure relevance and responsiveness as well as to redact information pursuant to MGL c. 66 s. 10B and other Massachusetts state laws, a total of 32.1 hours. As a result, on September 2, 2025, the Town issued a fee estimate for $802.50. On January 20, 2026, Mr. Herschler paid the fee. 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 February 25, 20261 to April 8, 2026.

Allison Cogliano, Esq. SPR26/0199 Page 3 January 27, 2026 Conclusion The Town submitted their petition on January 21, 2026, more than twenty business days after receipt of Mr. Herschler’s request. In light of the fact that the Town has not demonstrated that it submitted a timely petition, an extension of time cannot be granted for the August 18th request. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(d). To the extent possible, the Town must provide records on a rolling basis. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Nathan Herschler