Butler, Arthur v. Clinton Town Administrator (SPR 20150194)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords May 7, 2015 SPRlS/194 Mr. Phil Duffy Town of Clinton Office of Economic Development 242 Church Street Clinton, MA 01510 Dear Mr. Duffy: I have received the petition of Arthur Butler, on behalf of the Foundation for Fair Contracting of Massachusetts, appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Clinton (Town) to his repeated requests for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, on at least three occasions dating back to Fall of 2014, Mr. Butler requested copies of certified payrolls for a specifically identified vendor. To date, and despite assurances both to Mr. Butler as well as a member of my staff, no responsive records have been provided. The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical 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 of the 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). Accordingly, the Town is hereby ordered, within ten (1 0) day ofthis order, to provide Mr. Butler with the requested records. If the Town maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (10) days provide to Mr. Butler a w tten explanation, with specificity, fr how a particular exemption applies to each record. , / ' u ourd, 1 1 ALW. i 1,1 . 1 1ams Supervisor ofRecords cc: Mr. Arthur Butler OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre