Joseph Dwinell v. Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (SPR 20181481)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords October 19, 2018 SPR18/1481 Amy Quimby, Esq. Staff Attorney Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency One Beacon Street Boston, MA 02108 Dear Attorney Quimby: I have received the petition of Joe Dwinell of The Boston Herald appealing the response of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (MassHousing) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Dwinell requested: 1. All credit card statements for the past twelve months for all employees using a MassHousing-issued credit card; 2. All receipts and all reimbursements for expenses paid by MassHousing in the past 12 months to employees using their personal credit cards. Subsequent to receiving responsive documents, Mr. Dwinell notes in an October 3, 2018 email to MassHousing that he is "only looking for what all state agencies have: the reason for each individual expenditure." In light of Mr. Dwinell's clarification, it is unclear whether he is seeking all documents relating to reimbursements made to employees using personal credit cards. MassHousing has indicated it could "offer to assist [Mr. Dwinell] in modifying the scope of [the] request, as doing so would likely enable MassHousing to produce the records sought more efficiently and affordably." The parties are encouraged to communicate further as it may result in the production ofrecords that require fewer redactions. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vii) (an agency shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). If umesolved issues remain, Mr. Dwinell may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within 90 days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). 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

Amy Quimby, Esq. SPR18/1481 Page 2 October 19, 2018 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Joe Dwinell