John A. Hawkinson v. Cambridge, City of - Office of the City Clerk (SPR 20170321)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 17, 2017 SPR17/321 Donna P. Lopez City Clerk City of Cambridge 795 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 Dear Ms. Lopez: I have received the petition of John Hawkinson appealing the City of Cambridge's (City) response to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1 OA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Specifically, he requested copies of the minutes from executive session meetings held by the City Council. The City provided responsive minutes with certain portions redacted. In a petition dated March 13, 2017, Mr. Hawkinson submitted a joint Open Meeting Law complaint to the Office of the Attorney General's (AGO) Division of Open Government (Division) and a Public Records Law appeal to this office. Mr. Hawkinson objects to various aspects of the City's response to his request. An interpretation of the Open Meeting Law falls within the authority of the AGO and not this office. See G. L. c. 30A, § 23. Therefore, I find it is necessary to first obtain an opinion from the Division as to whether the City is properly claiming any portion of the Open Meeting Law to withhold portions of the responsive records. I will consider this appeal closed pending the AGO's review. If appropriate, I will opine on this matter upon completion of the AGO's review. Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: John Hawkinson Jonathan Sclarsic, Esq. 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