Beaudet, Mike v. Boston, City of - Mayor's Office (SPR 20150555)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords September 30, 2015 SPR15/555 Ms. Caroline Driscoll, Esq. City of Boston Law Department City Hall, Room 615 Boston, MA 0221 0 Dear Attorney Driscoll: I have received the petition of Mike Beaudet appealing the response of the City of Boston Mayor's Office (City) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Beaudet made two requests for copies of text messages. In the first, Mr. Beaudet requested copies of text messages "to and from Mayor Walsh that mention the Olympics or are referring to the 2024 bid from November 15,2014 to January 15, 2015." In his second request Mr. Beaudet sought copies of text messages "to and from Mayor Walsh from May 7, 2015 June 7, 2015." In its initial responses, the City indicated that text messages are not stored on the City's servers and are not immediately retrievable. The City did offer to provide invoices indicating the number of text messages sent per month. Mr. Beaudet appealed. 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 ofp hysical 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). Following conversations with my office and after further review by the City you stated in an email dated August 13,2015 that "[t]he Mayor has reviewed his text messages on his official and personal cell phone and has not found any that are responsive to either of Mr. Beaudet's requests." You also state "[t]he City is mindful of its obligations to comply with the Public Records Law and will make every effort to ensure that the public has access to these records regardless of format and/or device." OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Ms. Caroline Driscoll, Esq. SPR15/555 Page Two September 30, 2015 Whereas the City has confirmed it has no records responsive to Mr. Beaudet's request, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. cc: Mr. Mike Beaudet