Brooks A. Ames v. Brookline, Town of (SPR 20192155)

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

Rebecca S, Murray Supervisor of Records

November 1, 2019 SPR19/2155 Partick Ward

Town of Brookline

333 Washington Street, Room 208

Brookline, MA 02445

Dear Mr. Ward:

I have received the petition of Attorney Brooks Ames appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Brookline (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Attorney Ames requested specific executive session minutes.

Subsequent to the intervention by a member of the Public Records Division, I learned that the Town provided Attorney Ames a response to his request. Accordingly, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Attorney Ames may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Sincerely,

Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records

cc: Attorney Brooks Ames

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

Mackenzie Nekton

sepeenaaemeaaan aetna encanta emeeemeeees spaanpamaasaanasesssaanaes From: Joslin Murphy <jhmurphy@brooklinema.gov> Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2019 1:00 PM To: ‘prooksames1@gmail.com’ Ce: Mackenzie Nekton; PatridckWard Subject: a RE: Public Records Appeal Acknowledgement SPR19/2155 Attachments: SB Minutes 9.19.pdf

Mr. Ames: With regret for the inadvertent delay, please find redacted copies of the executive session minutes you requested below attached. The minutes are redacted to withhold information that is exempt from disclosure — under exemption (a) of the Public Records law and G.L. c. 30A, s. 22(f), because the redacted information pertains to a matter that is currently in litigation, and publication of the redacted information may defeat the purpose of the executive session; and under the attorney-client privilege, because the redacted information pertains to confidential communications between members of the Select Board and legal counsel. The vote appearing in the September 17, 2019 minutes has not been redacted, because this information is already in the public domain. The cost of production is waived. You have the right of administrative appeal to the Supervisor under 950 CMR 32.08(1) and the right to seek judicial review of an unfavorable decision by commencing a civil action in the superior court. Regards, Joslin Murphy

From: Brooks Ames <brooksames1@gmail.com>

Date: October 2, 2019 at 8:55:00 AM EDT

To: pward@brooklinema.gov .

Subject: Public Records Request re Executive Session Minutes.

Records Access Officer Ward:

This is a public records request for any portion of the Select Board’s executive session minutes for 9/3/19, 9/10/19, and/or 9/17/19 that a) records a vote on the question of whether to file an appeal of Gerald Alston’s reinstatement as a Brookline Firefighter, and/or b) records an invocation of the Rule of Necessity under the State Ethics Law. .

Sincerely,

Brooks A. Ames

Brookline Justice League 1309 Beacon Street, 3rd Floor Brookline, MA 02446

(617) 763-5526

From: Nekton, Mackenzie (SEC) [mailto:mackenzie.nekton@state.ma.us] Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2019 4:26 PM To: brooksamesi@gmail.com Cc: Pat Ward; SEC-DL-PREWEB Subject: Public Records Appeal Acknowledgement SPR19/2155 1

Dear Records Custodian:

Please be aware, this office has received an appeal relating to your entity’s response to a request for public records. Attached are further details concerning this appeal. If you have any questions or wish to provide further information relating to this matter, please contact the Public Records Division at pre@sec.state.ma.us or 617- 727-2832. Given that the Supervisor of Records must issue a determination within 10 business days of receipt of the appeal petition, please provide any additional information to this office as soon as possible.

Thank you,

MacKenzie Nekton

Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division , One Ashburton Place, Room 1719

Boston, MA 02108

617-727-2832