Colman Herman v. Boston, City of - Mayor's Office (SPR 20160591)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords August 11, 2016 SPR16/591 Ms. Laura Oggeri Chief Communications Officer Office of Mayor Martin J. Walsh One City Hall Square, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02201 Dear Ms. Oggeri: I have received the petition of Colman Herman appealing the nomesponse 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, Mr. Herman requested "a copy of the contract the [C]ity has with Ernst & Young to review the Winthrop Square Garage proposals." Having received only an acknowledgement the request was being reviewed, Mr. Herman petitioned this office. The Public Records Law 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 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 for provision of the records, or a denial. The City is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Present appeal Subsequent to the opening of this appeal I understand you informed an attorney on my staff that the City intends to provide the responsive document once it is finalized. In email correspondence with Mr. Herman, as well as in a telephone conversation with an attorney on my staff, you confirmed the record will be finalized soon. It should be noted that a custodian must demonstrate the application of an exemption if a record is being withheld. See Flatley, 419 Mass. at 511. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Ms. Laura Oggeri SPR16/591 Page 2 August 11, 2016 Conclusion Accordingly, I will consider this appeal closed with the proviso that the City provides the responsive document to Mr. Herman once it is finalized. A copy of any correspondence accompanying the record 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. I A. Williams Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Colman Herman Mr. David Sweeney