From the Londonderry Times
Alex Malm
May 25, 2023
The town of Londonderry currently doesn’t charge for 91A requests, but Town Manager, Mike Malaguti, said during the May 15 Town Council meeting that he may propose changing that policy in the future.
“I will tell you based on the volume of requests and the municipal resource I’ve had to devote I am considering proposing changes to that practice,” Malaguti said.
While explaining how many hours some 91A requests take to fill, Malaguti gave a few different examples to the Town Council.
One example Malaguti gave was requests for text messages and emails between himself and Town Council Chair, John Farell, over the course of about five months. He added that he estimated about spending 12.5 hours , which would be about $781 based on his 40 hour work week and if they sent it to an attorney it would’ve cost between $3,400 to $5,000 depending on the particular attorney’s rate.
Another example was a 91A request for communication from the American Civil Liberties Union and the town regarding the no trespass orders against the Gandias. Malaguti said they have received positive messages in the past about how they handle 91A requests.
“We have been complimented on it by some of the individuals that have been making these requests in the past,” Malaguti said.
In the past year, Malaguti told the Town Council that he estimates he has spent about 151.75 hours on filling 91A requests, which would cost the town about $9,484 based on him working 40 hours a week. He added that it could cost anywhere between $41,000 to $60,000 for legal counsel to do it.
Malaguti reiterated that anyone is allowed to file a 91A request, but said “It’s not without cost to the taxpayer.”
Farrell said at some point they may need to recoup the money spent on fulfilling the requests. “At some point it has to come from somewhere” Farrell said.
Town Councilor, Ted Combes, suggested they may want to look at having their attorney handle the request going forward instead of having Malaguti do it, noting the amount of hours he has spent working on them.
Farrell said they could discuss it more in the future and could potentially put it on a future council agenda.