James J. Wheaton v. Boston, City of - Police Department (SPR 20200108)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords February 3, 2020 SPR20/0108 Shawn Williams, Esq. Records Access Officer City of Boston 1 City Hall Square, Room 615 Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Williams: I have received the petition of James Wheaton appealing the response of the City of Boston (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on December 31, 2019, Mr. Wheaton requested various categories ofrecords concerning parking tickets during fiscal years 2017, 2018, and 2019. 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 responsive record Current Appeal In a communication dated January 16, 2020, the City provided Mr. Wheaton a response to his request for records. Unsatisfied with this response, Mr. Wheaton petitioned this office and as a result SPR20/0108 was opened. In his appeal to this office dated January 16, 2020 Mr. Wheaton writes, "[a]s you know, my cover email specified that my request was to be deemed to 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

Shawn Williams, Esq. SPR20/0108 Page 2 February 3, 2020 a request for the same records requested in a previous letter, but with the applicable period to be the first half of fiscal 2019 rather than the fiscal years 2017-2019." It is unclear if the City possesses any other records responsive to Mr. Wheaton's request. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide a response to the request, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations without delay. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. This office encourages Mr. Wheaton and the City to continue to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (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). Any updated fee estimate by the City must be in compliance with this determination, the Public Records Law, and its Access Regulations. Sincerely, ~u~ Supervisor of Records cc: James Wheaton