John A. Hawkinson v. Cambridge, City of - Law Department (SPR 20182100)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords January 11, 2019 SPRlS/2100 Seah Levy Public Records Access Officer City of Cambridge, Law Department City Hall, 795 Massachusetts A venue Cambridge, MA 02139 Dear Seah Levy: I have received the petition of John Hawkinson appealing the response of the City of Cambridge (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Hawkinson requested "scoping narratives" related to 2 identified appraisals of the value of the First Street Garage. The City initially responded on December 5, 2018 and Mr. Hawkinson appealed. The Public Records Law Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten business days of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)-(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA(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, § 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, § lO(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). 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

Seah Levy SPR18/2100 Page 2 January 11, 2019 Appeal In its December 5th response, the City cited Exemption (i) of the Public Records Law to withhold records. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(i). Mr. Hawkinson responded to the City on the same day seeking clarification regarding its exemption claim, specifically he inquired about how the scoping narratives could be withheld even though they" ... existed prior to the appraisal being performed." In his appeal petition Mr. Hawkinson asserts "[g]iven my position that the Nov. 19 request was perfectly clear, and having given the City another 10 business days after it's clarification, I ask the Supervisor order the City to produce the scoping narratives expeditiously, presumably as they existed prior to the appraisals being complete." Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, the City provided a supplemental response on January 8, 2018. In this response you assert "[w ]hen you spoke with me by phone, you once again stressed that you were looking for any scoping narrative prepared prior to the appraisal, and not for the appraisal report itself. At that time I stated I would undertake a search to see if such a narrative existed. The City is treating your above inquiry as a public records request pursuant to G.L. c. 66, § 10. Please find attached documents responsive to your request." In light of the City's January 8th response that provides responsive records, I will consider this appeal closed. Mr. Hawkinson may appeal the substantive nature of the City's response within 90 days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: John Hawkinson