Eileen W. Mooney v. Great Barrington, Town of - Office of the Town Clerk (SPR 20170723)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords June 8, 2017 SPR17/723 Mary Y. Ryan, Town Clerk Town of Great Barrington 334 Main Street Great Barrington, MA 0 123 0 Dear Ms. Ryan: I have received the petition of Eileen Mooney appealing the response of the Town of Great Barrington (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Specifically, Ms. Mooney requested records regarding the hiring of a "land agent." You provided Ms. Mooney with some records, however, Ms. Mooney felt they were not responsive to her request. Ms. Mooney then appealed to this office. In a conversation with this office, it was explained that your response needed to be clarified. 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, § 10A(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, § 10(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. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. 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

Mary Y. Ryan, Town Clerk SPR17/723 Page 2 June 8, 2017 To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records please refer to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is available on the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Public Records Division attorneys are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, Public Records Division staff will visit a records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. Please contact the Public Records Division directly at the telephone number provided in this determination for further information. Order Despite our letter to you dated May 26, 2017 acknowledging the opening of this appeal and conversations with a member of my staff, as well as conversations with counsel, no supplemental response has been provided. Accordingly, the Town is hereby ordered to provide Ms. Mooney with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (1 0) business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Eileen Mooney