Saklad, Don Kempner Warner v. Boston, City of - Licensing Board (SPR 20150440)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords July 27 2015 SPRlS/440 Ms. Jean Lorizio, Esq. City of Boston- Licensing Board One City Hall Square Boston, MA 0221 Dear Attorney Lorizio: I have received the petition of Don Warner Saklad appealing the response ofthe City of Boston- Licensing Board (Board) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Saklad requested copies of Board meeting minutes. The Board informed Mr. Saklad that Board minutes would be provided once approved. Please be advised minutes of open meetings, regardless of form, are public and must be made available in a timely fashion. There is no requirement that the minutes be approved before they are made public. A records custodian should clearly mark all such minutes "unofficial." The Open Meeting Law is enforced by the Office of the Attorney General, Division of Open Government. Any questions regarding the content of minutes, requirements to keep minutes or any procedural aspects of the Open Meeting Law should be addressed to the Division of Open Government. Accordingly, whereas the Board has not overcome the presumption that the requested records are public, it is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Mr. Saklad with the requested records. If the Board maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Mr. Saklad a written explanation, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record. To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Ms. Jean Lorizio, Esq. SPR15/440 Page Two July 27, 2015 If there are any fees associated with this response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § lO(a); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2) (where cost of complying with a request for public records is expected to exceed ten dollars ($10.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Once the fees are paid, u must provide the responsive records. Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Don Warner Saklad