James McDonagh v. Massachusetts Department of Transportation (SPR 20190528)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords March 19, 2019 SPR19/528 William Doyle, Esq. Massachusetts Department of Transportation 10 Park Plaza, Suite 3510 Boston, MA 02116 Dear Attorney Doyle: I have received the petition of Attorney James McDonagh appealing the nonresponse of Massachusetts Department of Transportation (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1) Specifically Attorney McDonagh requested, "said reports, as previously provided in an excel format entitled, 'Expenditures by vendor code N12 and N13' (which include fields such as a budget year, object, object name, activity, activity name, legal name, contract number and expenditures) for the period covering Fiscal Year 201 7 and Fiscal Year 2018." The Public Records Law 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, § 1 O(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. Conclusion It is my understanding that the Department did not receive a copy of Attorney McDonagh's request prior to the intervention of a member of the Public Records Division on March 12, 2019. It is also my understanding that the Department provided Attorney McDonagh a response dated March 19, 2019. 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

SPR19/528 William Doyle Page 2 March 19, 2019 In light of the Department's March 19th letter, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Attorney McDonagh may appeal the substantive name of the Department's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: James McDonagh, Esq.