Vitale, Carla v. Winthrop, Town of (SPR 20150262)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of& cords May 14,2015 SPRlS/262 Ms. Stacy DiChiara Human Resource Manager Town of Winthrop Town Hall One Metcalf Square Winthrop, Ma 02152 Dear Ms. Dichiara: I have received the petition of Ms. Carla Vitale appealing the response of the Town of Winthrop (Town) to her request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically Ms. Vitalle requested copies of Personnel Action Forms regarding 11 Town employees. In a response dated April18, 2015 the Town denied providing the responsive records citing Exemption (c), the privacy exemption of the Public records Law. The Town provided no additional information to support its exemption claim. 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). Public records and any non-exempt, segregable portions thereof, are subject to mandatory disclosure upon request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); see also Reinstein v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 378 Mass. 281, 289-90 (1979) (the statutory exemptions are not blanket in nature). 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); District Attorney for theNo rfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995). The response by the Town did not contain the specificity required in a denial of access to public records. To comply with the Public Records Law and its Regulations a records custodian 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. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Ms. Stacy DiChiara SPR15/262 Page Two May 14,2015 I find the Town has failed to meet its burden of specificity in denying access to public records. Accordingly, the Town is hereby ordered to provide all responsive records to Ms. Vitale in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. Ifthe Town maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Ms. Vitale a written explanation, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record. This administrative appeal is now closed. Supervisor of Records cc: Ms. Carla Vitale