SOUTHWICK – Town Clerk Michelle Hill offered a report on public requests for information to the Board of Selectmen this week, which showed 83 requests were made between Oct. 7, 2013 and Oct. 24, 2014.
The board requested the report in order to review the policy in place for making public information requests. Earlier this year, Hill asked the board for approval to receive payment upfront for large requests. She said some requests were very time-consuming and tied up staff for hours and then were never picked up and paid for by the person making the request.
“It was getting out of control,” Hill said of the number of large requests she received. “We have about $100 in uncollected requests.”
The board approved a requirement for pre-payment of any request estimated at more than $10.
Hill said the process for a request is simple.
“I’m basically the keeper of the information,” said Hill. “Requests come to me and there’s a process where it goes to the department the information comes from. If it is a larger request, I ask them to give me an estimate of how much time it would take.”
By law, Hill as 10 days to respond to any public information request. She said town hall staff can spend hours on one request.
“The hours spent on some of these requests can really take away from the daily duties of staff,” said Hill.
Hill said it’s hard to give an average number of requests per week.
“Some weeks I have none, then the next week I could have five or six,” she said.
Monday night, Selectmen Chairman Russell Fox specifically mentioned his concern about a request made by former town employee Jeffrey Neece regarding property his family owns on College Highway, where he and his brother operate Southwick Florist.
Fox said because Neece has filed a suit against the town and Fox acts on behalf of the board, he was concerned the request was an intimidation tactic.
The report provided by Hill includes the name of who made the request, the date it was made, and the actual request. Neece made eight requests since Oct. 7, 2013, ranging from minutes and audio from various meetings, to emails and correspondence on particular topics. The request Fox mentioned asked for “all building permits and building department files and information of any kind associated with 636 College Highway. Also include any and all correspondence, information and files from all other town departments and town legal representatives files.”
Selectwoman Tracy Cesan made six requests according to the report. Cesan’s requests included minutes and audio, salaries for town employees, and email correspondence between Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart and reporter Ted Laborde, as well as emails between Fox and Robert Horacek.
Resident Carol Ann Gauthier made three requests for audio and minutes of meetings. Resident Marcus Phelps made two requests regarding permits, and 10 requests were made from several people regarding Title V inspecion at various properties.
Two requests were made from local media – WWLP-TV and The Westfield News – regarding street lists and health inspections at Big Y. A few requests were made regarding permits and discussion at 27 Hudson Dr., and the other requests included salaries and union contracts, inspection reports and other residential concerns.
