Suzzane T. Sakr v. Plympton Zoning Board of Appeals (SPR 20200253)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords February 2020 SPR20/0253 Patricia Detterman Office of the Town Clerk Town of Plympton 5 Palmer Road Plympton, MA 02367 Dear Ms. Detterman: I have received the petition of Suzzane T. Xavier-Sakr appealing the response of the Town of Plympton (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Sakr is appealing the following with respect to the requested documents from the Town: • Not being allowed to review the Zoning Board of Appeals files of Cranberry Knoll. • Not being allowed to review the Fire Department files of Cranberry Knoll. • Not being allowed to make sure a copy of the book I paid to have copies is exact to the original. Previous Appeal This request is the subject of a previous appeal. SPR20/0040 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (January 23, 2020). In the previous appeal, on three (3) occasions, dated November 7, 2019, November 20, 2019 and December 10, 2019, Ms. Sakr requested to review several categories of records in an "exact copy of a spiral binder file regarding Cranberry Knoll and the well permits for the Town of Plympton." The Town provided a response on January 9, 2020 in respect to Ms. Sakr's request asserting the "certified mail document was mailed on December 30, 2019 ... Plympton Post Office made two attempts to deliver and has given Ms. Sakr a second written notice that the package is available for pickup." I closed SPR20/0040 upon learning that the Town on January 23, 2020 explained that the requester "picked up the intact package with her document and complete response letter dated 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

Ms. Patricia Detterman SPR20/0253 Page 2 February 25, 2020 December 24, 2019." In her February 10111 appeal, Ms. Sakr indicated that she was unsatisfied with the response provided by the Town on January 23rd. Ms. Sakr petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR20/0253, 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, § 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 characteristfos, 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 p01iion of the responsive record. Current Appeal In a letter to our office dated February 10, 2020, Ms. Sakr stated that she was "not being allowed access to review records at the Plympton Zoning Board of Appeals ... and Plympton's Fire Department regarding Cranberry Knoll." The Town indicated in a follow-up response on February 13, 2020 that Ms. Sakr was in fact given "the opportunity to compare the documents." Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that a representative from the Town states the ZBA files of Cranberry Knoll were included in the new copy of the record. With respect to the Fire Department files of Cranberry Knoll, the Department stated it gave all requested documents within its possession and the Town claims Ms. Sala was given the records separately. Pursuant to 950 C.M.R 32.08(l)(f), this appeal does not describe the nature of the requestor's objections to the response. Specifically, it is unclear what parts of the record Ms. Sakr finds objectionable. Please be aware that the request must reasonably describe the records sought. See G. L. c. 66, § 10 (a)(i), Further, it is unclear whether Ms. Sakr objects to the Town's previous production of documents received on January 23, 2020. Consequently, this office is unable to opine on the appeal at this time. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(l)(f) (all petitions for appeal shall be in writing and shall specifically describe the nature of the requestor's objections to the response or failure to issue a timely response). Ms. Sala may wish to modify and/or clarify the nature of the objections.

Ms. Patricia Detterman SPR20/0253 Page 3 February 25, 2020 Sincerely, ~~ · Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Ms. Suzzane T. Xavier-Sah