William C. Stafford v. Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (SPR 20192329)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 3, 2019 SPR19/2329 Noah S. Berger Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority 215 Iyannough Road/Route 28 P.O. box 1988 Hyannis, MA 02601 Dear Noah S. Berger: I have received the petition of William Stafford appealing the nonresponse of the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (Authority) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, in an email dated November 6, 2019 Mr. Stafford states, "I am requesting the calculations for Bourne's assessment of the Transportation Authorities for FY2015, FY2016, FY2018, FY2019 & FY2020." Mr. Stafford notes, "[p]lease prove me with the calculations for the CCRTA." 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, § 1O (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 po1iion of the responsive record Current Appeal In a response to Mr. Stafford dated November 13, 2019 the Authority writes, "[a]s you are aware, the law is limited to requests that 'reasonably describes the public record sought,' and covers public records that are 'within the possession, custody or control of the agency or 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

Noah S. Berger SPR19/2329 Page 2 December 3, 2019 municipality that the records access officer serves.' It does not cover requests for interpretation, clarification, or responses to questions. As CCRT A Public Records Officer, my read of your request is that it does not identify specific records sought." Unsatisfied bythis response, Mr. Stafford petitioned this office and a result SPRl 9/2329 was opened. In his appeal to this office dated November 16, 2019 Mr. Stafford writes, "I am appealing the public access officer's denial of records from CCRTA. In FY 2016 the Town of Bourne had a CCRT A assessment of $48,000. In FY 2017 the Town of Bourne had a CCRT A assessment of . $88,429." Mr. Stafford notes, "Mr. Berger has said that there were no other charge. We want to know the calculation for Bourne from FY 2016 to FY 201 7. If there are no other items in the calculation we want to know the financial information to get the calculation to verify the $88,429 assessment to Bourne. If there are no other calculations Bourne should have gotten a 2.5% increase instead of a 84.2% increase." Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division the Authority provided a follow-up response dated November 19, 2019. In the November 19111 response the Authority notes, "[n]eedless to say, CCRTA did not deny access to public records. Rather our 11/13/19 response to the public records request observed that the request did not identify any records that the requestor wanted CCRT A to make available." Conclusion In accordance with the Public Records Law, a custodian is expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist the requestor in obtaining the desired information. 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, § 1O (a)(ii). In addition, a public employee is not required to answer questions, or do research, or create documents in response to questions. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a); 32 Op. Atty Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977) This office encourages Mr. Stafford and the Authority to continue to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vii) (a municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Sincerely, ~~ Supervisor of Records cc: William Stafford