Brian Keaney v. Boston, City of - Mayor's Office (SPR 20160295)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of& cords May 20,2016 SPR16/295 Mr. George Bahnan Paralegal City of Boston Law Department City Hall, Room 615 Boston, MA 02210 Dear Mr. Bahnan: I have received the petition of Brian Keaney appealing the response of the City of Boston Mayor's Office (City) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, on December 3, 2015, Mr. Keaney requested "[a]ll text messages sent between Governor Charlie Baker and Mayor Martin Walsh since September 10, 2015." 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 ofp hysical 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). Previous appeal and determination This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR16/213 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (April 8, 2016). In your initial response, you indicated "[t]he [City] has determined it does not have any documents responsive to your request." Subsequently, you informed Mr. Keaney that "[t]he Mayor does not conduct substantive city business by text message and as I mentioned before, there were no text messages responsive to your request." Mr. Keaney appealed these responses, indicating he is seeking "all text messages between the Mayor and the Governor, regardless of content." In my April 8 determination I closed the appeal with the proviso that the City provide a supplemental response prepared in a manner consistent with the order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. The City provided a response to the order on April 20, 2016 and Mr. Keaney appealed that response. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mr. George Bahnan SPR16/295 Page 2 May 20,2016 April 20 response In the April20 response you explained "[t]he City has no records responsive to [Mr. Keaney's] request." An attorney on my staff provided you a copy of the appeal and, in a conversation with the attorney you confirmed the City has no records responsive to the request. The duty to comply with requests for information extends only to those records that exist and are in the custody of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). As a result, I will consider this appeal closed. 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 determination for further information. Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Brian Keaney