Mary Cuozzo v. Westwood, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20181338)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords September 20, 2018 SPR18/1338 Nora Loughnane Department RAO Community & Economic Dev. Department 580 Westwood, MA 02090 Dear Nora Loughnane: I have received the petition of Mary Cuozzo appealing the response of the Town of Westwood (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). In this matter, Ms. Cuozzo requested "[a]n 'official' copy of the current Land Court Case between the Town and me." Specifically, Ms. Cuozzo expressed that she is looking for page Al ofltem #1. Unsatisfied with the Town's response, Ms. Cuozzo petitioned this office and as a result SPR18/1338 was opened. Current Appeal In an email dated August 21, 2018, Sarah D. Bouchard, the Town's Housing and Zoning Agent, expressed to Ms. Cuozzo that, "[t]here was no page for Al for the document requested." In a follow up email dated August 22, 2018, Ms. Bouchard further states, "[i]n regards to Item # 1, no page A 1 existed on record." In an email to this office dated September 11, 2018, you stated,"[ s] ince the request pertained to records in custody of the Zoning Agent, Sarah Bouchard, the request was properly forward to Ms. Bouchard for response." No Duty to Create Records Please note 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 ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii). 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); 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). 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

Nora Loughnane SPR18/1338 Page2 September 20, 2018 Conclusion It is my understanding that you spoke with a staff member of the Public Records Division and confirmed that there are no further records responsive to Ms. Cuozzo' s request. Whereas the Town does not possess records responsive to Ms. Cuozzo's request and has no duty to create records responsive to the request, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Mary Cuozzo Sarah Bouchard