Michael R. Dupont v. Taunton, City of - Municipal Airport (SPR 20190755)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 22, 2019 SPR19/0755 Daniel F. de Abreu, Esq. First Assistant City Solicitor City of Taunton Law Department 141 Oak Street Taunton, MA 02780 Dear Attorney de Abreu: I have received a petition from Michael Dupont appealing the response of the City of Taunton Airport Commission (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically on February 21, 2019, Mr. Dupont requested five categories ofrecords regarding an incident that was discussed at a meeting on January 21, 2019. The City provided a response on March 25, 2019. Mr. Dupont made an appeal to this office on April 8, 2019 stating that he "only received an answer to question # 1. There was no response for the four other questions." Previous appeals This request was the subject of previous. appeals. See SPR19/0521; SPR 0568 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (March 22, 2019). In my March 22nd determination I ordered the City to provide a response to Mr. Dupont made in accordance with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations within ten business days. Additional responsive records In the City's March 25th response to Mr. Dupont, the City indicates "[r]ecords responsive to paragraph 3 of the request will be provided, if they exists, with one exception." Based on this statement, it is unclear if the City possesses the records Mr. Dupont claims are missing from his public records request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10( a)(ii), (b )(ii), (iii). The duty to comply with requests forrecords extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii), (b)(ii). In accordance with the Public Records Law, custodians are expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requesters in obtaining the desired information. See 950 C.M.R. 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

Daniel F. de Abreu, Esq. SPR19/0755 Pg. 2 April 22, 2019 32.04(5)(b). The City must confirm whether or not it possesses additional responsive records and provide such response in compliance with the Public Records Law and its Regulations. I understand a Public Records Division staff member contacted your office about this appeal and the City indicated their willingness to provide Mr. Dupont with a supplemental response. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to review the requests made by Mr. Dupont and provide any requested records, or a supplemental response to the request, in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within ten business days. 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. Mr. Dupont may appeal the substantive nature of the City's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Michael Dupont