Caitlin Russell v. Yarmouth, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20161057)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of Records December 9, 2016 SPR16/1057 Linda Dennehy Town of Yarmouth-Town Administrator 1146 Route 28 South Yarmouth, MA 02664 Dear Ms. Dennehy: I have received the petition of Caitlin Russell appealing the response ofthe Town of Yarmouth (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1 O(b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Russell requested an electronic copy of all Board of Selectmen executive session minutes from 2010 through 2015. The Town provided Ms. Russell with the responsive minutes; however minutes from September 30, 2014, January 13, 2015, February 24, 2015 and April 14, 2015 have been redacted. The Town claimed that the executive session minutes may be redacted pursuant to Exemption (b) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(b). Ms. Russell objected and petitioned this office. The Public Records Law 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 of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town ofthe Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 1 0( c); see also District Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). 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. One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us

Linda Dennehy SPR16/1057 Page 2 December 9, 2016 Exemption (b) The Town has claimed that Exemption (b) of the Public Records Law applies to each of the redacted executive session minutes provided to Ms. Russell. Exemption (b) permits the withholding of records that are: related solely to internal personnel rules and practices ofthe government unit, provided however, that such records shall be withheld only to the extent that proper performance of necessary governmental functions requires such withholding G. L. c. 4, § 7 (26)(b). The Town has provided no specificity to support its Exemption (b) claim, and I fail to see how this particular exemption will allow the Town to withhold the redacted portions of meeting minutes that were supposed to be released to the public. The Town has failed to meet its statutory and regulatory obligation under the Public Records Law. Order I find the Town has failed to properly respond to a request for public records. Accordingly, the Town is hereby ordered to provide Ms. Russell with a more detailed response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. A copy of any such response must be provided to this offi e. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at re sec.stat cc: Ms. Caitlin Russell