Eoin Higgins v. Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (SPR 20160651)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords September 7, 2016 SPR16/650; 16/651 Ms. Tara Zadeh, Esq. General Counsel Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources 251 Causeway Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02114 Dear Attorney Zadeh: I have received the petition ofEoin Higgins of the Berkshire Eagle appealing the response of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) to June 9 and August 11, 2016 requests for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Higgins requested to receive via email, an electronic copy ofthree categories of records. Mr. Higgins received responsive records but appealed, believing the response was incomplete. After an August 31 telephone conversation with an attorney on my staff, you explained that MDAR provided a letter to accompany the responsive records, dated August 4, 2016. The August 4 letter describes records attached, but does not state whether any records were withheld or whether any other records exist. To remedy this email on August 31, 2016 you provided Mr. Higgins and this office with a second response explaining that MDAR has no further records responsive to his requests. Accordingly, whereas MDAR has provided Eoin Higgins with an August 31 email response explaining that all the records responsive to his requests have been provided, I consider this administrative appeal closed. Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Eoin Higgins OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre