Jeff Brown v. Gloucester, City of - City Clerk (SPR 20180657)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords May 22, 2018 SPR18/657 Joanne Senos City Clerk Gloucester City Hall 9 Dale Ave. Gloucester, MA 01930 Dear Ms. Senos: I have received the petition from Jeff Brown appealing the response from the City of Gloucester City Clerk's Office (City) regarding a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § IOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Originally, Mr. Brown sent a public records request email on April 24, 2018 to the City requesting the "name of the individual who resurrected the idea of putting Dogtown on the National Register of Historic Places." The City provided a response to Mr. Brown on May 7, 2018. Mr. Brown sent an email on May 8, 2018 to this office appealing the City's response stating Mr. Brown was given the name of the person that is moving the project forward and not the name of the person that resurrected the idea of Dogtown. 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 of receipt 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, § IO(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 ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(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, if known. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (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, § 1O (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 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. Joanne Senos SPR18/657 Pg. 2 May 22, 2018 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 burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). The City has indicated it has provided Mr. Brown with all responsive records currently in the City's possession. 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 ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii) (b)(ii). The records access officer shall not be required to create a new public record in order to comply with a request, provided that furnishing a segregable portion of a public record shall not be deemed to be creation of a new record. G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(£). It is unclear whether the City has knowledge of additional records being in possession of another agency or municipality. 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, if known. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(iii). Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to review the requests made by Mr. Brown and provide a response to Mr. Brown, 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Jeff Brown