Executive Session Minutes (Plymouth County) (Middleborough Town Clerk)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66, §10, I hereby request the following records:

To whom it may concern,
Pursuant to Massachusetts General Law Chapter 66, Section 10, I'm requesting all executive session minutes generated, by the Swansea Board of Selectmen for the years 2010 through the of end 2015.
Massachusetts law requires that executive session minutes be reviewed and released regularly, and that once the stated purpose for a particular executive session has ended, the minutes of the executive sessions are to be made public. Once released, I plan to make the information available to the public online, free of charge.
Please be advised that denial of this request, or redactions made to released materials must be accompanied by citations of the exemptions you believe allow you to withhold the information requested.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Caitlin Russell

My apologies for the error in my previous email in which I requested Swansea's board minutes. I'm seeking the executive session minutes produced by the town of Middleborough's board of selectmen for the years 2010-2015. Thank you for bringing this mistake to my attention.
Caitlin Russell

To whom it may concern,
I’d like to appeal the town of Middleborough’s fee of $759.36 to fill a public records request for executive session minutes from 2010-2015. Requesters should not be financially penalized because a local board has failed to keep its records in such a way that they may be easily accessed upon request. I’ve requested the same data from numerous municipalities, and a number of them were able to provide it quickly and without a fee. The Town of Middleborough has not requested any money for the cost of copying the material, the entire price is for the estimated 24 hours of research it would take to pull the information together. If the town’s Board of Selectmen had been regularly reviewing and releasing its minutes as it should, there would be no need for 24 hours of research.
Best,
Caitlin Russell