Kristin A. Venuti v. Abington, Town of - Office of the Town Manager (SPR 20200025)

· The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 16, 2020 SPR20/0025 Richard LaFond Town Manager Town of Abington 500 Gliniewicz Way Abington, MA 02351 Dear Mr. LaFond: I have received the petition of Kristin Venuti appealing the response of the Town of Abington (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Venuti requested the ''summary of Annual Capital Funding and Quarterly Subscriber Derivative payments for PEG support that Verizon made to the Town" f1:0m 2009 to the present, and a copy of "the Draft of the Comcast Cable License currently under negotiation with the Town of Abington for Cable Subscribers." The Town provided responses on January 6, 2020, producing a record in response to the cable license request, and indicating that it does not possess the requested payment summaries. Unsatisfied with these responses, Ms. Venuti petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR 20/0025, was opened as a result. Tlte Public Recouls 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. 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

Richard LaFond SPR20/0025 Page 2 January 16, 2020 Current Appeal Draft Agreement In her appeal petition, Ms. Venuti states that she "received a Template for the Town of Lancaster, MA in response." The record produced by the Town references the Town of Abington in its text, but the title of the file references the Town of Lancaster. In light of Ms. Venuti's statements, the Town must clarify whether it has produced responsive documents. Quarterly Payment Reports In the Town's January 6111 response to the request for payment reports, it states that it "is not the keeper of the records that you request," and indicates that the referenced payments are not made to the Town, but instead to ABCAM, Abington Community Access and Media, a separate corporation. In.Ms. Venuti's request, she states that "[t]hese quarterly payment rep01is are reported to the Town Office(s) and the Town Accountant should be able to obtain a spreadsheet form the Verizon Franchise Manager." Based on the Town's response, it is unclear whether the Town possesses any responsive records. 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), (b)(ii). The Town must clarify this matter. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide a response to Ms. Venuti consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Access Regulations within ten ( 10) business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this respqJ1se to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Kristin Venuti