Avnish Sharma v. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs - Office of Coastal Zone Management (SPR 20181620)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records November 20, 2018 SPRlS/1620 A vnish Sharma Via email Dear Mr. Sharma: I have received the petition of Avnish 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 records related to an identified EOEEA employee. Previous appeals This request was the subject of two previous appeals. See SPR18/1390 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (October 3, 2018); SPR18/1106 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (August 7, 2018). I closed SPR18/1390 by finding the nature of Mr. Sharma's appeal was unclear. Specifically, Mr. Sharma failed to provide this office with a copy of his original request, appeared to be requesting verification of information, not records, from the EOEEA and did not identify a requirement of the Public Records Law or its Regulations that the EOEEA had not complied with. Current appeal On October 11, 2018, Mr. Sharma emailed this office providing a description of the records and information he is seeking and indicating the following: "I would request you to provide the complete information 'as it is' in the record of EEA,IT. I feel copy of resume excluding any specific personal information such as address and phone number etc. should be sufficient for this purpose." Please be advised that the Public Records Division is not a warehouse for government records. The only records kept in the Division are those that are essential to the business operations of the Division. A requestor must, therefore, seek records directly from the entity that created or received them. Further, Mr. Sharma is reminded that 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 information 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

Avnish Sharma SPR18/1620 Page 2 November 20, 2018 provided, the basis of Mr. Sharma' s appeal remains 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 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(l)(f-g). Conclusion For the reasons indicated above, I find the nature of Mr. Sharma's appeal remains unclear. He may resubmit his request to the EOEEA or appeal to this office once it has been clarified. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (a)(i) (the request must reasonably describe the public record sought); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(f) (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, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Jennifer Sulla, Esq.