Tina Nappi v. Bedford, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20180362)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords April 2, 2018 SPRlS/362 Doreen Tremblay Town Clerk Bedford Town Hall 10 Mudge Way Bedford, MA 01730 Dear Ms. Tremblay: I have received the petition from Ms. Tina Nappi appealing the response from the Town of Bedford (Town) regarding a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Ms. Nappi is requesting information from the ad hoc Dog Park Task Force. She is requesting all correspondences and emails among the Task Force members and information pertaining to the Survey Monkey account. The Town provided Ms. Nappi with records in its possession, however, Ms. Nappi contends there are additional responsive records. Appeal Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten business days ofreceipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)-(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a )(ii), (b )(ii). Also, the duty to comply with requests for records extends to identifying the agency or municipality that may be in possession, custody, or control of the public record sought, iflmown. See G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(b )(iii). 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) (written response must "identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based ... "); 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 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

Ms. Doreen Tremblay SPR18/362 Pg.2 April 2, 2018 burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). It is unclear whether the Town has additional responsive records. Accordingly, the Town is ordered to review the requests made by Ms. Nappi and provide a response to Ms. Nappi, made in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order 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. If unresolved issues remain, Ms. Nappi may appeal the substantive nature of the Town's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Ms. Tina Nappi