Claudia Shapiro v. Town of Great Barrington - Town Manager (SPR 20160181)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords March 24, 2016 SPR16/181 Ms. Jennifer Tabakin Town of Great Barrington- Town Manager 334 Main Street Great Barrington, MA 01230 Dear Ms. Tabakin: I have received the petition of Claudia Shapiro appealing the response of the Town of Great Barrington-Town Manager (Town) to her request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Shapiro requested records related to a specifically identified abatement. Initially the Town provided a response dated March 4, 2016, stating "Application for Abatement of Real or Personal Property is not open to inspection and therefor, is exempt from the public records law." It is unclear from the response whether this response is inclusive of all requested records. Ms. Shapiro appealed the Town's response. The Public Records Law states that "the burden shall be upon the custodian to prove with specificity the exemption which applies." G. L. c. 66, § 1 0( c) (emphasis added); see also Globe Newspaper Co. v. Police Comm'r, 419 Mass. 852, 857 (1995); Flatley, 419 Mass. at 511. The Town's response did not contain the specificity required in a denial of access to public records. Instead, the Town's response merely stated responsive records "is not open to inspection and therefor, is exempt" without claiming any specific exemption or providing any further explanation as to the exemption's applicability to the requested records. The Town is not permitted to issue a blanket denial without providing any further information with respect to the requested records. As a result, the Town failed to meet its burden of explaining with specificity how all responsive records, in its entirety, are exempt from disclosure. See Reinstein v. Police Comm'r ofBoston, 378 Mass. 281,289-90 (1979) (the statutory exemptions are narrowly construed and are not blanket in nature). Any non-exempt, segregable portion of a public record is subject to mandatory disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a). Accordingly, the Town is hereby ordered, within ten (1 0) days, to review the requests made by Ms. Shapiro and provide a written response to her, made in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order. If the Town maintains that any portion of OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Ms. Jennifer Tabakin SPR16/181 Page2 March 24, 2016 the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Ms. Shapiro 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, § 1O (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 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 determina · for fu her information. cc: Ms. Claudia Shapiro