Oak G. Malden v. Malden City Clerk's Office (SPR 20200935)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records June 25, 2020 SPR20/0935 Greg Lucey City Clerk Clerk Department 110 Pleasant Street, First Floor Malden, MA 02148 Dear Mr. Lucey: I have received the petition of “OakGrove Malden” appealing the response of the City of Malden (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on May 26, 2020, the requestor requested the following records regarding “. . . the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) FY2020 and Friends of Oak Grove (FOOGI), CPC Applicant and their FY2020 Application in connection with the Oak Grove Community Building: 1. . . . Date and Time Stamp Receipt of FOOGI’s CPA Application FY2020 for the Oak Grove Community Building which 2 hard copies were received in the City Clerk’s Office by the Fall 2019 CPC deadline. 2. . . . Signature Page from FOOGI’s full CPA application FY2020 for the Oak Grove Community Building signed by the Applicant and Co-applicant. Please include the Date and Time Stamp verifying receipt of this document by the CPC. The document currently posted on the CPC web portal on Malden’s website is NOT signed by anyone. 3. . . . FOOGI’s email/letter/communication sent to the CPC containing said Signature Page signed by the Applicant and Co-Applicant.” Previous appeal The requested records were the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR20/0925 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (June 11, 2020). I closed SPR20/0925 after I learned that the City provided a response on June 11, 2020. Claiming to not have received all responsive records, the requestor petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR20/0935, was opened as a result. 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

Greg Lucey SPR20/0935 Page 2 June 25, 2020 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, § 10A(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, § 10(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. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. The City’s June 11th response In its June 11, 2020 response, the City provided the requestor with a link to access certain responsive records. In the requestor’s appeal petition, the requestor states that “[d]ocuments requested under Item #2 and #3 have not been provided. . . .” In light of the requestor’s claim, I find the City must clarify if it possesses records responsive to items 2 and 3. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). Also, in accordance with the Public Records Law, custodians are expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requestors in obtaining the desired information. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5). Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide the requestor with a response to the request, provided 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.

Greg Lucey SPR20/0935 Page 3 June 25, 2020 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: “OakGrove Malden”