Patrick Higgins v. Fall River, City of - Housing Authority (SPR 20191789)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords September 13, 2019 SPR19/1789 Mike Sousa, Esq. Fall River Housing Authority 85 Morgan St. Fall River, MA 02722 Dear Attorney Sousa: I have received the petition of Patrick Higgins appealing the nomesponse of the Fall River Housing Authority (Authority) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1) Specifically on July 5, 2019, Mr. Higgins requested a "copy of all contracts by and between the Fall River Housing Authority and all elevator vendors/contractors; RIBI Security Contract; and any and all contracts by and between the Fall River Housing Authority and any vendor dealing with the video cameras installed in any Housing Authority Property as well as the contract by and between the Fall River Housing Authority and the City of Fall River as it relates to the assigned Housing Authority's police coverage." 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, § lO(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 tesponsive record. Conclusion Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that the Authority provided Mr. Higgins a response dated September 12, 2019. One Ashbmion Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us

SPR19/1789 Mike Sousa, Esq. Page 2 September 13, 2019 In light of the Authority's September lih response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Mr. Higgins may appeal the substantive nature of the Authority's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Patrick Higgins