Avnish Sharma v. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs - Office of Coastal Zone Management (SPR 20181390)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords October 3, 2018 SPRlS/1390 Jennifer Sulla, Esq. Deputy General Counsel Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs 100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900 Boston, MA 02114 Dear Attorney Sulla: I have received the petition of A vnish Sharma appealing the response of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Sharma requested "verification of the [EO]EEA, IT employee, [identified individual] ... [w]hether [the identified individual] has certification in Oracle Database Administration called 'Oracle Certified Professional in Database Administration' and Microsoft SQL server Database Administration ... [w ]hether [the identified individual] has BS in electrical engineering and MS in computer science." Previous appeal This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPRl 8/1106 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (August 7, 2018). I closed SPR18/1106 by ordering the EOEEA to provide Mr. Sharma with another response to his request, provided in a manner consistent with the order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten business days. The EOEEA provided a response to Mr. Sharma on August 28, 2018, a copy of which was provided to this office by the EOEEA. Current appeal In correspondence dated August 23, 2018, Mr. Sharma requested the EOEEA "verify the following information about" an identified individual, "1. Oracle Certified Professional Certified - sample copy is attached ... 2. Verification of her qualification-B.S. Electrical Engineering MS. Computer Science -Are these degrees from US universities ... 3. Verification of her experience as Database Administrator (DBA)-Number of years ... 4. Does DBA experience support Form 30 job requirement (70%) in Application Support It should say something like payroll, finance and accounting, environment programs such as Air Quality, Water Quality etc." 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

Jennifer Sulla, Esq. SPR18/1390 Page 2 October 3, 2018 The EOEEA responded to Mr. Sharma's August 23rd correspondence on September 7, 2018 indicating that "because the August 23 e-mail ... is a request for verification of information, [the EOEEA is] not considering this e-mail to be a public records request. In addition, to the extent that this e-mail does seeks public records, [the EOEEA has] already responded to your earlier public records request regarding [a n identified individual]." In addition to this correspondence, Mr. Sharma sent various other communications and requests for "verification" of information to the EOEEA and to this office. In Mr. Sharma' s most recent correspondence with this office dated September 18, 2018, he indicates he "requested the complete information of [ an identified individual], database administrator in EEA, IT on i. Certifications ii. Education and iii. Experience. However, the information provided by EEA fails to comply with my request because of incomplete information." Mr. Sharma additionally indicates several categories of specific information and records he is seeking from EOEEA including for the purposes of example: "Degrees and names of Universities from where it is earned;" "[p] lease have [EO]EEA provide the name of the agency that provided US accreditation;" "[t]he Oracle Certification should say something like this 'Oracle database 10g certified professional,' OR 'Oracle database 11 g certified professional. .. ;"' "[i]f the candidate has not provided complete information, please request [ an identified individual] provide that information. If she fails to provide that information, then EEA needs to confirm [a n identified individual] is not certified in Oracle database." Mr. Sharma' s September 18th correspondence includes several other specific requests for information or records and verification of information he is seeking. Petitions to the Supervisor; requirements for appeal Under the Public Records Law, requestors of public records may petition the Supervisor of Records "for failure by a records access officer to comply with a requirement of 950 CMR 32.00." 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(b). Based on the correspondence provided by Mr. Sharma, the basis of his appeal is unclear; it is unclear what requirement of the Public Records Law or its Regulations Mr. Sharma is claiming the EOEEA has not complied with. Mr. Sharma is advised that when filing a petition for an appeal with this office, a requestor must provide a copy of the original request, provide a copies of all correspondence with the custodian, specifically describe the nature of his objections and specify what aspect of the custodian's response is being appealed. 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(f-g). No duty to answer questions In the EOEEA's August 28th response, it indicates that the only responsive record in its possession is a resume. Based on Mr. Sharma's correspondence, it is unclear if he is seeking to obtain this record and if not, what records within the EOEEA's possession he is seeking. Mr. Sharma is reminded that under the Public Records Law, the EOEEA is not required to create a record or obtain the record from another entity or individual in response to a public records

Jennifer Sulla, Esq. SPR18/1390 Page 3 October 3, 2018 request. A public employee is not required to answer questions, or do research, or create documents in response to questions. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a); 32 Op. Atty Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977). 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. 4, § 7(26). Conclusion For the reasons indicated above, I find the nature of Mr. Sharma's appeal is unclear. Mr. Sharma may resubmit his request to the EOEEA or appeal to this office once it has been clarified. See G. L. c 66, § lO(a)(i) (the request must reasonably describe the public record sought); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(:t) (all petitions for appeal shall be in writing and shall specifically describe the nature of the requestor's objections to the response or failure to provide a timely response). Accordingly, I will now consider this matter closed. Sincerely, Uuu-~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: A vnish Sharma