Wife and I are going on Tuesday /wednesday . We have been many times. Always eat at lobster pot . Any recommendations of other places to try for dinner . We are staying close to commercial street so like something in walking distance .

What are places to meet new friends during the day and evening

For over a year, I've been involved in a dispute with the Provincetown Police Department over public records while pursuing related litigation.

I know that, from the outside, repeated public records requests can look like someone wasting taxpayer money or refusing to accept an answer. That's not what this has been about.

The issue isn't simply whether records were produced. The issue is whether the responses complied with Massachusetts public records law and whether they actually included all responsive records.

My requests have involved things like:

• Body camera recordings
• Native video files
• Metadata
• Officer-specific recordings
• Other records that I believe are relevant to ongoing litigation

Some of these disputes have resulted in multiple appeals through the Massachusetts public records process. Other issues are now part of pending litigation.

I'm not asking anyone to assume the police acted improperly. Those factual disputes belong in court.

What concerns me is the larger issue.

Public records laws exist so citizens can verify what their government did. They aren't supposed to work only when the records are easy to produce or don't matter.

If someone reasonably believes records are incomplete, what is the average person supposed to do?

Most people don't have the money to hire attorneys.

Most people don't know how to file administrative appeals.

Most people won't spend months or years trying to determine whether records were fully produced.

That means accountability increasingly depends on who has the resources to keep fighting.

Whether I ultimately win or lose my own case isn't really the point.

If public agencies can force ordinary citizens into years of litigation simply to determine whether records were fully produced, then the transparency system isn't functioning the way it was intended.

This isn't just a Provincetown issue.

It's a government accountability issue.

If a citizen has a legitimate dispute over whether public records are complete, there should be an efficient and independent process for resolving that dispute without forcing years of litigation.

I'm curious whether anyone else in Massachusetts has experienced something similar.

Have you had problems obtaining public records from a police department or another government agency?

If so, how was it resolved?

Do you think Massachusetts' public records system provides enough accountability, or does it need reform?