Joshua Miller v. Executive Office for Administration & Finance (SPR 20180088)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S Murray Supervisor oJRecords February 1,2018 SPR181088 Robert Ross, Esq. General Counsel Executive Office for Administration & Finance Massachusetts State House, Room 373 Boston, MA 02133 Dear Attorney Ross: I have received the petition of Joshua Miller of the Boston Globe appealing the response of the Executive Office for Administration & Finance (Office) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 5 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, in an initial request dated January 2, 2018, Mr. Miller requested "ALL names and records of separation, severance, transition and/or settlement connected to the FY15, FY16, and FY 17 settlements paid out of the Commonwealth's settlements and judgment account on behalf of ANF and its agencies." Mr. Miller included a spreadsheet detailing such payments for those fiscal years. Mr. Miller narrowed his request on January 16,2018 by seeking "names, and records of separation, severance, transition andlor settlement (ie the legal document tied to the payment) connected to the FY15, FY16, and FY17 settlements OF MORE THAN $10,000 paid out of the Commonwealth's settlements and judgment account on behalf of EOANF and its agencies." The Office initially responded on January 17, 2018 and indicated "[alt this point, we can respond defmitively that two of the payments identified in your spreadsheet result in no responsive documents, since they represent the payments of fees related to litigation, not settlements with former employees." You also asserted "I am not yet able to provide a definitive response with respect to the August 14,2015 payment attributed to DOR, or the October 29, 2015 payment attributed to this Office. We will continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding those two payments and will supplement this response promptly when we are able to provide more definitive information." Mr. Miller appealed, indicating that the Office "did not say IF a definitive response would ever be provided or WHEN [the Office] might provide such a response." It appears that Mr. Miller did not provide a copy of his petition for an appeal to the Office; however, a Public Records Division staff member provided a copy of the appeal file to the Office. Mr. Miller is One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massach.u setts 02108 (617) 727-2832. Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre pre@sec.state.ma.us

Robert Ross, Esq. Page 2 Febmmy 1,2018 advised that in petitioning the Supervisor of Records, "the requester must provide a copy of such petition to the records access officer associated with such petition." 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(h). Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, the Office provided a supplemental response to Mr. Miller on January 26,2018. This response included responsive records, with portions redacted under Exemption (c) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, 5 7(26)(c). Whereas this matter was opened based upon Mr. Miller initially not receiving responsive records, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Mr. Miller may appeal the substantive nature of the response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Joshua Miller