Vic Anderson v. Boston, City of - Police Department (SPR 20200232)

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

Rebecca S, Murray Supervisor of Records

February 24, 2020 SPR20/0232

Shawn A. Williams, Esq. City of Boston

1 City Hall Plaza

Room 615

Boston, MA 02201

Dear Attorney Williams:

I have received the petition of Vic Anderson appealing the response of the City of Boston (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). ~ Specifically, on September 24, 2019, Mr. Anderson requested the following records within the possession of the City:

e Correspondences to, from, copying and/or referencing John Gorman and/or Doug Anderson, including correspondences to, from and copying Attorney Edward Coburn from January 1, 2015 forward

e Copies of all ISD, Landmarks, and BHAC permits, applications, approvals, plans, records, reports and other documents or instruments referencing John Gorman and/or Doug Anderson,

Current Appeal

Prior to the opening of this appeal, Mr. Anderson agreed on October 10, 2019 to “limit his public records’ request at the request of Ed Coburn.” In addition, a representative from the City provided a response to Mr. Anderson in an email dated November 6, 2019. Unsatisfied with this response, Mr. Anderson petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR20/0232, was opened as a result.

With respect to Mr. Anderson’s request, the City provided a further response on February — 10, 2020 regarding the status of the request. “Both Landmarks and BHAC divisions have indicated to me that there are no records responsive to your request (B). ISD has already provided all of its records responsive to request (B).”

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 A. Williams, Esq. SPR20/0232 Page 2 February 24, 2020

Regarding the correspondences, the City provided a response in an email dated February 7, 2020 stating “six (6) searches were run..,.there are over 3,000 emails...each of the 3,000 emails must first be reviewed internally to determine if any portion needs to be redacted.” It is unclear if the request pertaining to “correspondences to, from, copying and/or referencing those individuals, including correspondences to, from and copying Attorney Edward Coburn from January 1, 2015 forward” has been fulfilled. The City must clarify this matter.

Conclusion

Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that the City intends on providing a response to Mr. Anderson’s request. Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Anderson with said response within ten (10) business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Anderson may appeal the substantive nature of the City’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.MLR. 32.08(1).

Sincerely,

Rbecen. Mura

Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records

ec: Mr, Vic Anderson