Executive Session Minutes (Barnstable County) (Sandwich Town Clerk)
| Submitted | Oct. 25, 2016 |
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Communications
From: Caitlin Russell
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66, §10, I hereby request the following records:
I'm requesting all executive session minutes generated by the 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.
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
From: White, Taylor
Caitlin,
Your request has been received and forwarded to the proper department. You will receive a response within the allotted time frame.
Regards,
Taylor
Taylor D. White
Sandwich Town Clerk
Notary Public, Justice of the Peace
145 Main Street
Sandwich, Massachusetts 02563
Office: (508) 888-0340
Cell: (617) 828-9728
[cid:image001.gif@01D22F7B.8A0A9D40]<http://www.sandwichmass.org/DepartmentDetail.asp?ID=11>
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Secretary of State has determined that
e-mail is a public record.
[cid:image002.jpg@01D22F7B.8A0A9D40]<https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ovr/>[cid:image003.jpg@01D22F7B.8A0A9D40]<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sandwich-Town-Clerk/124538812114>
Check Your Voter Registration Here<https://www.sec.state.ma.us/VoterRegistrationSearch/MyVoterRegStatus.aspx>
From: Lapp, Doug
Hello. This is to confirm that the Town of Sandwich is in receipt of your request, dated October 25, 2016, for all Board of Selectmen executive session meeting minutes from 2010-2015. The Town has records responsive to your request, and will provide those executive session meeting minutes which may be disclosed at this time, at no charge. Please note, however, that requested executive session meeting are under review, and it is anticipated that those minutes that will be released will not be available until after the Board of Selectmen’s next scheduled meeting on November 10, 2016.
You will be informed if any of the requested minutes will be withheld because the purpose for the executive session has not yet expired, pursuant to G.L. c. 66, §10, G.L. c.4, §7(26) and G.L. c. 30A, §21. Reasons for the executive sessions at issue include but are not limited to personal and personnel matters, collective bargaining, ongoing litigation, strategy with respect to collective bargaining and litigation where open session would be detrimental to the Town’s collective bargaining or litigation strategy, value of real property, and others. Where the purposes of any session or portion thereof have not been met, the minutes or portion thereof will be withheld from disclosure pursuant to the exemptions to the Public Records Law, G.L. c.4, §7(26). Furthermore, it is anticipated that information may be redacted from any released executive session meeting minutes pursuant to the attorney-client privilege. More specific information in this regard will follow, as the minutes are reviewed and released.
Thank you.
Douglas Lapp
Assistant Town Manager
Town of Sandwich, MA
(508) 888-5144 or 4910
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following Public Records Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 25, 2016. You had previously indicated that it would be completed on Nov. 10, 2016. I wanted to check on the status of my request, and to see if there was a new estimated completion date.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Lapp, Doug
Hello. I will be emailing you many sets of minutes later today free of charge. There are some minutes which we will need to redact for various reasons. That will obviously take a little more time to do. We should be able to send all of those redacted minutes and/or lists of minutes that are being completely withheld, along with a written explanation, by early next week (again, free of charge). I hope you can appreciate that I don’t have any additional staff to help with this work, but I’m doing it as quickly as I can.
So, be on the lookout for emails from me later today. Due to the large volume of documents you’re requesting, it will have to be sent via many separate email notes.
Thank you,
Douglas Lapp
Assistant Town Manager
Town of Sandwich, MA
(508) 888-5144 or 4910
From: Lapp, Doug
Hello. Attached are all the calendar year 2010 minutes that we’re able to release at this time. You’ll see that one of the files includes multiple sets of 2010 minutes. More to follow.
Thanks,
Douglas Lapp
Assistant Town Manager
Town of Sandwich, MA
(508) 888-5144 or 4910
From: Lapp, Doug
Attached are all the calendar year 2011 minutes that we’re able to release at this time. The file includes multiple sets of 2011 minutes. More to follow.
Thanks,
Douglas Lapp
Assistant Town Manager
Town of Sandwich, MA
(508) 888-5144 or 4910
From: Lapp, Doug
Attached are all the calendar year 2012 minutes that we’re able to release at this time. The file includes multiple sets of 2012 minutes. More to follow.
Thanks,
Douglas Lapp
Assistant Town Manager
Town of Sandwich, MA
(508) 888-5144 or 4910
From: Lapp, Doug
Attached are all the calendar year 2013 minutes that we’re able to release at this time. The file includes multiple sets of 2013 minutes. More to follow.
Thanks,
Douglas Lapp
Assistant Town Manager
Town of Sandwich, MA
(508) 888-5144 or 4910
From: Lapp, Doug
Attached are all the calendar year 2014 minutes that we’re able to release at this time. The file includes multiple sets of 2014 minutes. More to follow.
Thanks,
Douglas Lapp
Assistant Town Manager
Town of Sandwich, MA
(508) 888-5144 or 4910
From: Lapp, Doug
Attached are all the calendar year 2015 minutes that we’re able to release at this time. The file includes multiple sets of 2015 minutes. We will follow-up early next week with explanations about the documents that either need to be redacted and/or withheld.
Thanks,
Douglas Lapp
Assistant Town Manager
Town of Sandwich, MA
(508) 888-5144 or 4910
From: Caitlin Russell
Thank you!
From: Lapp, Doug
Hello. This is in follow up to your request, dated October 25, 2016, for copies of Board of Selectmen Executive Session meeting minutes from 2010-2015.
From: Caitlin Russell
Hello,
Can you please note which exemptions tot he Public Records Law apply to the redacted portions of these minutes? Also, in some cases it appears that material may have been inappropriately redacted. For example, of July 8, 2010, there is discussion of a settlement for $11,500, and the name of the person or entity with which this settlement was made is redacted. Seeing as the matter is resolved, I believe you're required to release that information. There is also discussion of litigation from 2010, which nearly seven years later, I think may reasonably be expected to have been resolved, allowing the redacted information to be released. Please let me know if you're willing to review the minutes for more instances of inappropriately redacted material, in addition to adding citations for all applicable Public Records Law exemptions. Thanks!
Caitlin
From: Lapp, Doug
Hello Ms. Russell,
This is in response to your inquiries of November 28, 2016. In our correspondence to MuckRock dated November 22, 2016, the Town did identify which exemptions apply to the redactions for each specific set of minutes, so I am unclear what further specification you are seeking.
With respect to your additional questions, as noted in the Town’s November 22nd response, the July 8, 2010 minutes were redacted pursuant to Exemption (c) – the specific item you refer to below involved an employee’s workers compensation matter (and thus medical information) and thus the employee’s name was redacted. The Town otherwise believes that is has appropriately redacted other information, as permitted by law.
Thank you,
Douglas Lapp
Assistant Town Manager
Town of Sandwich, MA
(508) 888-5144 or 4910
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