Adam Vaccaro v. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (SPR 20171362)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords October 5, 2017 SPR17/1362 Julie Ciollo, Esq. Assistant General Counsel Records Access Officer Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Ten Park Plaza, Suite 7760 Boston, MA 02116 Dear Attorney Ciollo: I have received the petition of Adam Vaccaro of The Boston Globe appealing the response of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Vaccaro requested "[e]mails exchanged between Joe Carreiro and any sender or recipient whose address ends with '@manconinc.com,' dating back to July 1, 2017." The MBTA provided a response dated September 22, 2017 in which it asks Mr. Vaccaro to "narrow and refine" his request. 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, § 1O A( 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, § 1O (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, § 1 O(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

Julie A. Ciollo, Esq. SPRl 7/1362 Page2 October 5, 2017 Providing a copy of appeal to MBTA It does not appear that Mr. Vaccaro provided a copy of his September 26, 2017 appeal petition to the MBTA. Mr. Vaccaro is advised that when petitioning the Supervisor, "the requester shall provide a copy of such petition to the records access officer associated with such petition." 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(h). Current appeal In its September 22nd response, the MBTA states "[a] search for responsive records resulted in over 700 emails, which will require that the MBTA expend numerous personnel hours to respond to your request. This places an undue burden on the MBTA, and is unreasonable in light of the Public Records Law." You further assert that "[d]ue to the lack ofresources at the MBTA currently available to respond to not only your request, but numerous other, similar public records requests, I must ask that you further narrow and refine your request. Please consider modifying the date range or providing specific keywords so that a more manageable review and reply may be made." Due to the fact that Mr. Vaccaro's request provides a sender, recipient, and time frame for responsive records, specifically "dating back to July 1, 2017," I find this request reasonably describes the records sought. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(i). Accordingly, the MBTA must provide Mr. Vaccaro a supplemental response that contains an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or any other applicable information contemplated by G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b ). I understand a Public Records Division staff attorney contacted your office about this appeal. Conclusion Accordingly, the MBTA is ordered to provide a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Adam Vaccaro