Colman Herman v. Office of the Comptroller (SPR 20181209)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 27,201 8 SPR1811209 Katie Kendall Director of Special Projects Office of the State Comptroller One Ashburton Place, 9th Floor Boston, MA 02108 Dear Ms. Kendall: I have received the petition of Colman Herman appealing the response of the Office of the Comptroller (Comptroller) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Herman requested "hard copies and electronic copies of records that detail the expenses that Charlie Balter incurred in his capacity as governor for the period August 1,2017 to July 3 1,201 8. This includes, but is not limited to, items such transpor[t]ation (e.g., airline, train, ride-hailing), lodging, meals and entertainment." The Comptroller responded on August 10,201 8 and Mr. Herman appealed. 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, 5 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, 5 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, 5 lO(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 51 1 (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. 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

Katie Kendall Page 2 August 27,2018 Current appeal In its August lothr esponse the Comptroller indicates "[tlhe summary expenditures appear on CTHRU, however, all supporting documentation for all expenditures are maintained at the Department, as per CTR's Records Management Policy (http://www.macomptroller.info/ comptroller/docs/policies-procedures/internal-controls/po-other-records-management.padn d 8 15 CMR 10.00 (attached)." You also explain that the Comptroller "has authority pursuant to chapter 7A and c. 29 to prescribe the appropriate procedures to process payments. Pursuant to the Department Head Signature Authorization Policy (http://www.macomptroller.info/comptroller/d ocs/policies- procedures/security/po-sec-dept-hd-sign-authorization.pdfa)ll invoices, vouchers and other claims for payments must be approved in-house by each spending authority (the Department Head) and entered into the state payroll system or the state accounting system as a payment transaction against an authorized Department account." The Comptroller provides additional information regarding this process by noting "[olnce submitted in the system (which acts as the Department Head approval) the transaction will be processed if tliere are sufficient funds and the transaction is entered correctly. The Comptroller enables payments to process on the Department Head's certification that the payment is appropriate, authorized and there is supporting documentation to support payment." With respect to obtaining the responsive records, the Comptroller indicates Mr. Herman "may seek any further information directly from the Department making the reimbursements. Unfortunately, other than the summary information posted on CTHRU this office has no access to any more details regarding the reimbursement.'' In his appeal petition Mr. Herman indicates "I understand that 'supporting documentation' for expenses is not in the possession of the comptroller. But it is not clear to me why the comptroller is unable to provide me with documents that detail how much the governor spent for his transportation, lodging, meals, entertainment, etc." He also notes "[tlhe governor has refused my request for his expense records" and he attached a letter from the Governor's Legal Office dated December 13,201 7. Mr. Herman asks this office to "order the comptroller's office to use its superior knowledge in the matter at hand. As I note above, it is not clear to me why the comptroller is unable to provide me with documents that detail how much the governor spent for his transportation, lodging, meals, entertainment, etc." I understand the parties previously attempted to discuss this matter. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, the Comptroller provided a response on August 27,20 18 that provides additional information regarding how to find emplo Ke e reimbursements on CTHRU. 1 find that based on the information provided in its August 10' and August 27th responses, Mr. Herman and the Comptroller should communicate further to clarify whether the specific information Mr. Herman seeks is available on CTHRU. See G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(b)(vii); G.

Katie ICendall Page 3 August 27,2018 L. c. 66, jj 6A(d) (if the public record requested is available on a public website pursuant to subsection (b) of section 19 of this chapter, section 14C of chapter 7 or any other appropriately indexed and searchable public website, the records access officer may furnish the public record by providing reasonable assistance in locating the requested record on the public website). It should be noted that 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, jj lO(a)(ii). Sincerely, u Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Colman Herman