Benjamin Berke v. Brockton, City of (SPR 20191241)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division

Rebecca S, Murray Supervisor of Records

July 5, 2019 SPR19/1241 Anthony Zeoli City Clerk City of Brockton 45 School Street Brockton, MA 02301

Dear Mr. Zeoli:

I have received the petition of Ben Berke of The Enterprise appealing the nonresponse of the City of Brockton (City) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Berke requested records related to a Certificate of Fitness policy. Claiming to not yet have received a substantive response, Mr. Berke petitioned this office and this appeal was opened as a result.

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, § 10(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, § 10(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response.

Despite the opening of this appeal, it does not appear that the City has provided a response to this request. Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide a written response to Mr. Berke in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Regulations and this order within ten business days. 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: Ben Berke

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