Levy, Marc v. Cambridge, City of - Office of the City Clerk (SPR 20150880)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords January 8, 2016 SPRlS/880 Ms. Iram Farooq City of Cambridge City Clerk's Office 795 Massachusetts A venue Cambridge, MA 02139 Dear Ms. Farooq: I have received the petition of Marc Levy, of the Cambridge Day, appealing the response of the City of Cambridge -Clerk's Office (Office) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Levy requested a copy of the Woodworth Study Report." In a November 18, 2015 email, Iram Farooq informed Mr. Levy that the report is being withheld pursuant to Exemption (d) of the Public Records Law. Mr. Levy appealed this response. 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, § lO(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). By email dated December 21, 2015, you provided Mr. Levy with a copy of the responsive record. To assist the Office in responding to requests for public records I have enclosed a copy of our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is also available on the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Attorneys on my staff are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, members of my staff will visit a records OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Ms. Iram Farooq SPRIS/880 Page2 January 8, 2016 custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public R cords Law upon request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number above fi r further information. erduly ours, cc: Mr. Marc Levy