Joseph Viglione v. Medford City Solicitor (SPR 20191285)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords June 27, 2019 SPR19/1285 Kimberly M. Scanlon, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor City of Medford 85 George P. Hassett Drive Medford, MA 0215 5 Dear Attorney Scanlon: I have received the petition of Joseph Viglione appealing the response of the Medford City Solicitor (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Viglione requested a copy of a waiver for a CORI form and documents/records "declaring political censorship, any squelching of free speech." Unsatisfied with the City's response, Mr. Viglione petitioned this office and this appeal was opened as a result. June 25th Response The City provided Mr. Viglione a response on June 25, 2019 in which they noted they were not in possession of either of the records that Mr. Viglione had requested. Under the Public Records Law, the City is not required to create a list of records or any record in response to a public records request. Under the Public Records Law, the City is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d); 32 Op. Atty Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977). The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii). Conclusion Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that a representative from the City intends on proving a supplemental written response to Mr. Viglione aimed at addressing the concerns that he had outlined in his appeal. Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Viglione with a response in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access 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. Mr. Viglione may 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

Kimberly M. Scanlon, Esq. SPR19/1285 Page2 June 27, 2019 appeal the substantive nature of the City's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Joseph Viglione