David Bixby v. Chatham, Town of (SPR 20200244)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords February 25, 2020 SPR20/0244 Terry Whalen Town of Chatham 549 Main Street Chatham, MA 0263 3 Dear Mr. Whalen: I have received the petition of David Bixby appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Chatham (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Specifically, on January 11, 2020, Mr. Bixby requested "copies of all contracts or agreements for the rent or lease of each aircraft hangar space for the two box hangars with combined capacity of 5 aircraft" at the Chatham Airport. Claiming to not yet have received a response, Mr. Bixby petitioned this office and this appeal was opened as a result. 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, § IOA(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); 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. As of the date of this letter, it is my understanding that a member of the Public Records staff has been in contact with the Town. They stated a response will be provided to Mr. Bixby, but as of this date has not provided a response to his request for records. 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

Terry Whalen SPR20/0244 Page 2 February 25, 2020 Order Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Bixby with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations without delay. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Bixby may appeal the substantive nature of the Town's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: David Bixby