Shaffer, Maya v. City of Chicopee Law Department (SPR 20150313)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords May 28,2015 SPRlS/313 Mr. Thomas J. Rooke, Esq. City of Chicopee Law Department City Hall 17 Springfield Street Chicopee, MA 01013-2776 Dear Attorney Rooke: I have received the petition of Maya Shaffer of the Bay State Examiner appealing the response of the City of Chicopee (City) to her request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, on March 26, 2015, Ms. Shaffer requested copies of audio recordings related to an investigation. Having received no response Ms. Shaffer petitioned my office. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (1 0) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b); 950 C.M.R. 32.05. The response may be an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. As of the date Ms. Shaffer petitioned my office, April16, 2015, it has been over thirty days since she requested the records, the Town had not responded to her request for the audio recordings. The ten-day provision is a maximum, rather than a minimum, time frame for complying with a public records request. The Town is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. 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. Shaffer in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. If the Town maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Ms. Shaffer a written explanation, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record. cc: Ms. Maya Shaffer One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832. Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre