Michael Gordon v. Massachusetts Port Authority (SPR 20170466)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords April 6, 2017 SPR17/466 Ashley K. Carvalho, Esq. Records Access Officer Massachusetts Port Authority One Harborside Drive Suite 200S East Boston, MA 02128-2909 Dear Attorney Carvalho: I have received the petition of Michael Gordon appealing the response of the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Michael Gordon requested a copy of a specifically identified surveillance tape from Logan Airport, as well as a list of the TSA employees assigned to Terminal C during the morning of August 11, 2011. Unsatisfied with the response he had received from Massport, Mr. Gordon petitioned this office and this appeal was opened as a result. 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, § lOA(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(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 of the 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 O(b )(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. 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

Ashley K. Carvalho, Esq. SPRl 7/466 Page 2 April 6, 2017 Current appeal Subsequent to an intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that Massport generated a response to Mr. Gordon's request on March 21, 2017 that informed him that "it has no responsive documents, information, or video within its possession, custody, or control." Under the Public Records Law, Massport is not required to create a list of records or any record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). As for the second part of Mr. Gordon's request where he asked for the roster of TSA agents assigned to a specific sector of Logan Airport, Massport informed Mr. Gordon in the same response that "[T]he TSA Federal Security Director is the proper office of TSA personnel records" and that they redirected that inquiry to the rightful designee. Accordingly, I determine that Massport appropriately addressed all of Mr. Gordon's requests and will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, {&wAfnu~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Michael Gordon