Ronald P. Matta v. Brockton, City of - Office of the Mayor (SPR 20160252)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords April 22, 2016 SPR16/252 Mayor William Carpenter Brockton City Hall 45 School Street Brockton, MA 02301 Dear Mayor Carpenter: I have received the petition of Ronald Matta appealing the nomesponse of the City of Brockton-Office of the Mayor (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Matta requested "All sent and received emails from the email account mayorbillcarpenter@gmail.com from November 5, 2013 to March 18, 2016." Having received no response, Mr. Matta 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 (1 0) 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. All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Subsequent to the intervention by a member of my staff, this office was notified that a response was provided, dated April19, 2016. Whereas this matter was opened based upon the City's failure to provide a written response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Mr. Matta may appeal the substantive nature of the City's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). 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. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mayor William Carpenter SPR16/252 Page2 April22, 2016 In addition, members of my staff will visit a records cust ian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. P ease contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determination fa her i formation. cc: Mr. Ronald Matta