Heather Carito v. Massachusetts Department of Transportation - Office of the General Counsel (SPR 20160071)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords February 16, 2016 SPR16/071 Ms. Marie Breen, Esq. First Assistant General Counsel MassDOT and MBTA 10 Park Plaza Boston, MA 02116 Dear Attorney Breen: I have received the petition of Heather Carito appealing the nonresponse of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBT A) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Carito requested a number of records pertaining to "any communication regarding 521CMR and Forest Hills station between January 1, 2015 and November 10, 2015." Having received no response, Ms. Carito petitioned this office. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (10) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (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. MBTA is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, a member of my staff attempted to contact you by phone on February 8, 2016. I will consider this administrative appeal to be closed with the proviso that the MBTA provide a written response within 10 days. Ms. Carito may appeal the substantive nature ofthe MBTA's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). To assist the MBTA 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 and other members of my staff are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Ms. Marie Breen, Esq. SPR16/071 Page 2 February 16, 2016 In addition, members of my staff will visit a records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determination for further information. Supervisor of Records Enclosure cc: Ms. Heather Carito