Heather Carito v. Massachusetts Department of Transportation (SPR 20190240)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords February 12, 2019 SPR19/240 William J. Doyle, Esq. Office of the General Counsel Massachusetts Department of Transportation 10 Park Plaza, Suite 3510 Boston, MA 02116 Dear Attorney Doyle: I have received the petition of Heather Cari to appealing the response of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to her request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Specifically, Ms. Carita requested "e-mails, memos, reports, and other records relating to the Nov. 27 Jeffrey Ferris request sent to Sec. Pollack for: 1. Current Capital Investment Plan item for $15.80 million in the Highway category (under 'Reliability') for FY 2019 for the Casey Overpass project; 2. Current Capital Investment Plan item $21.82 million in the MBTA category for the 'Forest Hills Improvement Project' (under 'Modernization') for FY 2019-2023; 3. Estimated total cost of Casey Arborway project." MassDot provided certain records on January 22, 2019. Ms. Carita appealled, indicating that she has yet to receive all responsive records. 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. Appeal In its January 22°d response MassDOT asserts "[b]elow is a link to some of the records responsive to your request (Item #3 of your request); the remaining records will be sent to you as they are received in our office." In her appeal petition Ms. Carita indicates she only received one record, and inquires whether MassDOT could commit to a delivery date. 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

William J. Doyle, Esq. SPR19/240 Page 2 February 12, 2019 G. L. c. 66, § lO(b) provides, in pertinent part, that if the magnitude or difficulty of the request unduly burdens the other responsibilities of the agency or municipality such that the agency or municipality cannot provide records within 10 business days, the agency or municipality must inform the requestor in writing within 10 business days. With respect to the timeframe to produce responsive records, the written response shall: identify a reasonable timeframe in which the agency or municipality shall produce the public records sought; provided, that for an agency, the timeframe shall not exceed 15 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records and for a municipality the timeframe shall not exceed 25 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records; and provided further, that the requestor may voluntarily agree to a response date beyond the timeframes set forth herein. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vi). Whereas Ms. Carita's request was received on January 8, 2019, and it appears MassDOT has not provided all responsive records, I find MassDOT has not met its burden in responding to the request in accordance with G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vi). Conclusion Accordingly, MassDOT is ordered to review the responsive records, redact where necessary, and provide Ms. Carita responsive records, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations without delay. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Heather Carito