Wallack, Todd v. Boston, City of - Mayor's Office (SPR 20150142)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords April16, 2015 SPRlS/142 Ms. Melina Schuler Senior Media Liaison City of Boston Office of the Mayor 1 City Hall Square, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02201-2013 Dear Ms. Schuler: I have received the petition of Todd Wallack of the Boston Globe appealing the response ofthe City of Boston (City) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lO(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Wallack requested three categories of records related to Boston's affordable housing program. In Request 3, Mr. Wallack requested a "list of designated Affordable Housing Units that have been created," "including the name of the developer, date the units were created and full address for those units (including unit numbers)." In response the City provided responsive records while withholding the unit numbers associated with Request 3, stating that when "a privacy interest is implicated, there must be a balance between the public's right to know and any invasion of privacy - even through indirect means." The City cited a case associated with privacy but failed to state any exemption to the Public Records Law to justify the withholding of the unit numbers. See Georgiou v. Comm'r of Dep't of Industrial Accidents, 67 Mass. App. Ct. 428 (2006). Mr. Wallack appealed this response, stating that this "decision makes it difficult (if not impossible) to verify whether these units actually exist, were actually made available to the program and how those units differed from other units developers built." Mr. Wallack further stated his beliefthat some "developers who built such units advertised the full addresses of the buildings" in several publications, creating "doubt about the privacy interest in redacting the data." The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832. Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma.us/pre

Ms. Melina Schuler SPR15/142 Page Two Apri116, 2015 form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden ofthe records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10 ( c); see also District Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). The Public Records Law states that "the burden shall be upon the custodian to prove with specificity the exemption which applies." G. L. c. 66, § 10(c) (emphasis added). See also Globe Newspaper Co. v. Police Comm'r, 419 Mass. 852, 857 (1995); see also District Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995). The response by the City did not contain the specificity required in a denial of access to public records. Accordingly, the City is advised that to comply with the Public Records Law and Regulations it must provide specificity with respect to any denial of access to public records. This requires a records custodian to not only cite an exemption, but to specifically explain the applicability of the exemption to the requested records. I find the City has failed to meet its burden of specificity in denying access to public records. Accordingly, the City is hereby ordered to provide all responsive records to Mr. Wallack in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. If the City maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Ms. Wallack a written explana ion, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record. This administrati e appeal is closed. Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Todd Wallack