Town Meeting Adopts Bylaw Requiring Public‑Records Log and Response Summaries

Town Meeting voted to adopt a bylaw requiring the town clerk to maintain and publish a public log of records requests and a brief summary of the town’s response for each request. Petitioners said the step is necessary because state enforcement of public‑records law has weakened and local accountability is the remaining mechanism to ensure timely responses.

The petitioners worked with the advisory committee and town staff to narrow the proposal so it would avoid unnecessary expense and not trigger federal accessibility obligations for documents posted online. Under the adopted motion, the clerk can comply using existing public‑request software (the town’s FOIA Direct system) or by exporting request/response data and posting it in a machine‑readable format.

Supporters, including advisory committee members and the select board, said the obligation will create an administrable, low‑cost transparency mechanism and will help residents and journalists identify requests and responses without filing duplicate requests. A town meeting member who had sought records related to the local investigation described a prior multi‑month delay and difficulty obtaining materials; she said the log would improve accountability.

Town staff clarified that legally exempt material (for example, statutorily protected personal data) would be redacted and that the town would note where exemptions applied rather than posting exempt content.

Ending: The town clerk’s office will adopt procedures to produce the log; the bylaw provides a local accountability tool and the administration said it would work to minimize added operational burdens.