Edward P. Sinni, Jr. v. Division of Occupational Licensure (SPR 20200580)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 3, 2020 SPR20/0580 Bruce E. Hopper, Esq. Deputy General Counsel of Boards, Hearings and Records Division of Professional Licensure 1000 Washington Street, Suite 710 Boston, MA 02118-6100 Dear Attorney Hopper: I have received the petition of Edward P. Sinni, Jr. appealing the response of the Division of Professional Licensure (Division) Architectural Access Board (Board) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on February 28, 2020, Mr. Sinni requested the email addresses of all Board members. Mr. Sinni also asked, “[h]ow are Board inquiries forwarded by the Board staff…” The Division’s February 28, 2020 response The Division indicated that: “…all inquiries to the [B]oard are received 1) via email to the [B]oard mailing address 1000 Washington Street, Suite 710, Boston, MA 02118; 2) through the [B]oard telephone number (617) 727-0660; or 3) via email to [B]oard staff: William.joyce@mass.gov or Karen.brann@mass.gov. The [B]oard website is listed at https://www.mass.gov/orgs/architectural-access-board.” “…the individual [B]oard members are named on the website but no individual contact information is provided, because all [B]oard inquiries are sent to [B]oard staff who then either resolve or answer the inquiry, or forward it to the full [B]oard to vet.” As a result of the Division’s February 28th response, Mr. Sinni petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. I note that in the Division’s February 28th response, Mr. Sinni was provided with the email address of Board Chair, Walter White, which is Mr. White’s Town government email address. The request for Mr. White’s email address was the subject of an August 18, 2019 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

Bruce E. Hopper, Esq. SPR20/0580 Page 2 April 3, 2020 request and prior determinations by the Supervisor. See SPR19/1724; SPR20/0041 and SPR20/0286 Determinations of the Supervisor (September 10, 2019; October 3, 2019; January 22, 2020 and February 24, 2020). In your February 28th response, Mr. Sinni was informed that it is the Division’s position that the email addresses of the Board members’ email addresses are exempt. Burden of specificity in responding; claiming exemptions The Division denied Mr. Sinni’s request for the Board member’s email addresses without claiming any exemption(s) in the Public Records Law that would support the withholding of the responsive records. Under the Public Records Law, the burden shall be upon the custodian to prove with specificity the exemption which applies. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv); see also Globe Newspaper Co. v. Police Comm’r, 419 Mass. 852, 857 (1995); Flatley, 419 Mass. at 511. The Division did not meet its burden of demonstrating how the responsive records are exempt from disclosure. See Reinstein v. Police Comm’r of Boston, 378 Mass. 281, 289-90 (1979) (the statutory exemptions are narrowly construed and are not blanket in nature). Conclusion Accordingly, the Division is ordered to provide Mr. Sinni with a response to his request for the Board member’s email addresses, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations as soon as practicable. 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Edward P. Sinni, Jr.