It is your Right as a citizen of this town to make a Public Records Request. Remember, an informed resident is one who can make decisions based on facts. The law governing your Right to request this information dates back to 1851 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Please keep in mind the following:
1. The department in which you make the request can charge you $.20/page for each photocopy and they could possibly charge you for the time it takes for them to gather information which is not readily available. This would include such requests as "Please provide me with the records of all bids placed for the Esten School Roof Replacement in 1998". Since this request is not a current project, they may need to gather this information and can charge you for this time. The per hour charge is based on the salary of the lowest paid person in that department. There are how ever times when you can be charged at a higher rate, but this must be disclosed to you first. Any request which will cost over $10 must be told to you upfront and may require you to pre-pay.
2. Make your request as conciise as possible. Vague requests waste time and will cost you more in the end. However even if your request is general because you may not know the proper term or exactly what you need, the person who you are asking has what is referred to as "Superior knowledge" and must use this knowledge to provide you with what you need. An example of this is a resident recently asked for the videotape of a meeting. After waiting over two weeks, he contacted the department again where he was informed that they do not videotape meetings and that he had to write again and request the audiotape of the meeting. This is wrong, the department is required to interpret the request using the superior knowledge they possess and not withold or basically harrass the requestor.
3. EVERY document, email, meeting minutes and any other form of records in which the town produces is subject to a records request. |
