Patrick Higgins v. Fall River, City of - Retirement Board (SPR 20170162)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Calvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 3,2017 SPR171162 Christine A. Tetreault Executive Director Fall River Retirement Board Fall River, MA 02720 Dear Ms. Tetreault: I have received the petition of Patrick Higgins appealing the response of the City of Springfield- Retirement Board (Board) to a request for public records. G. L, c. 66 5 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Higgins requested "a date and time be set for me to inspect the executive session minutes of all public bodies of your municipality, whether draft, hand written or typed, and whether accepted, approved or not for the calendar year 2016." In a response dated February 2,2017 the Board denied his request, claiming the responsive records are exempt from disclosure under G.L. c. 30A, $22 as it operates through Exemption (a) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, $ 7(26)(a): ". . .the Board will be conducting a review of its 2016 executive session minutes.. .to determine whether the reason for the executive session minutes' exemption still exists, and it will announce its determination at its March 2017 meeting. If the Board determines that the reason for the executive session minutes, or any portion thereof, no longer exists, those minutes shall be released and forwarded to you." Open Meeting Law The nature of Mr. Higgins's request and the content of the Board's response raise issues that invoke the Open Meeting Law. Given that an interpretation of the Open Meeting Law falls within the authority of the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) and not this office, I decline to provide a determination as to the status of executive session minutes. See G. L. c. 30A, $ 23. It is recommended that you contact the AGO should you seek a determination on this issue. 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

Christine A. Tetreault Page 2 February 3,201 7 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Patrick Higgins