David E. Lurie v. Massachusetts Port Authority (SPR 20160174)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords March 23, 2016 SPR16/174 Ms. Elizabeth D. R. Becker, Esq. Legal Counsel Massachusetts Port Authority One Harborside Drive, Suite 200S East Boston, MA 02128-2909 Dear Attorney Becker: I have received the petition of David Lurie, Esq. on behalf of Gary Godinho appealing the nomesponse of Massachusetts Port Authority (Authority) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, on August 20, 2015 Mr. Godinho requested "all emails and documents related to the proposed Boston Grand Prix IndyCar Race in Boston." The Authority initially produced copies of records, deemed nomesponsive by Attorney Lurie. Despite repeated attempts to obtain responsive records, and despite responses by the Authority to Attorney Lurie, no additional records have been provided. 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, § 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. The Authority is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. The Authority provided an initial response, and engaged in written correspondence with Attorney Lurie but otherwise failed to meet its burden in providing a response to a request for public records. 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, § 1O (b ); 950 C.M.R. 32.05. The ten-day provision is a maximum, rather than a minimum, time frame for complying with a public records request. The response may be an offer to provide records, a fee estimate forprovision of the records, or a denial. The Authority is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Ms. Elizabeth D. R. Becker, Esq. SPR16/174 Page2 March 23, 2016 Subsequent to a March 16, 2016 message left for you by a member of my staff you indicated a substantive response would be provided. To date my office has received no additional response from the Authority regarding this request. Accordingly, whereas the Authority has failed to respond to a request for public records, the Authority is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days ofthis order, to provide Attorney Lurie with a substantive response to the August 2015 request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. Ifthe Authority maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (10) days provide to Attorney Lurie 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. If there are any fees associated with this response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(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, you must provide the responsive records. To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records please refer to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is 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 reco ds custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upo re uest. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this deter · ti n or further information. cc: Mr. David Lurie, Esq.