Alfred J. Relf v. Lowell, City of - Law Department (SPR 20191913)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray S11pe111isor of Records. October 1, 2019 SPR19/1913 Stacie M. Moeser, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor City of Lowell - Law Department 375 Merrimack Street, 3rd Floor Lowell, MA 01852-5909 Dear Attorney Moeser: I have received the petition of Alfred Relf appealing the response of the City of Lowell . (City) to a request for public records . .G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Relfrequested 10 categories ofrecords related to identified audio and visual recordings. Unsatisfied with the City's response, Mr. Relf appealed to this office. Tlte 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 responsive record. Appeal The City initially responded on August 28, 2019. I understand Mr. Relf modified his. request on August 29, 2019 and the City provided a fee estimate to Mr. Relf on September 11, 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

Stacie M. Moeser, Esq. SPR19/1913 Page 2 October 1, 2019 In his appeal petition Mr. Relf indicates that he submitted various requests for records and contends that certain requests were altered. He also notes that he made a "final attempt" to obtain the records in an email to the City on September 16, 2019. In this September 16th email Mr. Relf indicated "I'll be in Lowell September 20, 2019, I'll have a postal money order for the amount $75.00 and can pick up the materials on that date ifthere is an issue with this let me now." Based on Mr. Relfs appeal petition, it appears that the only basis of his appeal is the inability to coordinate with the City to produce records. If this is not the case, Mr. Relf may wish to clarify this matter. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(l)(f) (all petitions for appeal shall be in writing and shall specifically describe the nature of the requestor's objections to the response or failure to provide a timely response). Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, the City indicated that it will provide responsive records upon payment of the fee on a mutually agreeable date at the Lowell Police Department. You also noted that the City can mail the records to Mr. Relf upon receipt of payment. I find that the City must communicate with Mr. Relf to facilitate producing the responsive records upon receipt of payment at a mutually convenient time and location or by first class mail. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)-(b). Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide a supplemental response to Mr. Relf that provides instruction on how Mr. Relf may obtain responsive records in a manner consistent with this determination, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 10 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. Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Alfred Relf