Edward P. Sinni, Jr. v. Concord Natural Resources Commission (SPR 20201006)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 6, 2020 SPR20/1006 Delia Kaye Town of Concord Natural Resources Division 141 Keyes Road Concord, MA 01742 Dear Ms. Kaye: I have received the petition of Edward Sinni appealing the response of the Town of Concord Natural Resources Division (Division) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Sinni requested: “…the email address of the Natural Resources Commission [Commission], and the email addresses of the individual [Commission] members.” In a June 24, 2020 email, you informed Mr. Sinni that disclosure of the private email addresses of Commission members would invade their privacy, and such email addresses are not subject to disclosure. As a result, Mr. Sinni petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) and this appeal was opened. In his petition, he states, “[t]here is a precedent in a similar complaint submitted when the Division of Professional Licensure - Architectural Access Board [Division] refused such email addresses.” Burden of specificity in responding; claiming exemptions The Division denied Mr. Sinni’s request for the individual members’ email addresses of Commission members due to privacy 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 email addresses of individual Commission members 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). 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

Delia Kaye SPR20/1006 Page 2 July 6, 2020 In a July 1, 2020 email to this office, you stated, “the [Commission] doesn’t have public email, and outlining the process for [Mr. Sinni] to provide comments to the [B]oard.” I find that the Division and/or Commission must clarify whether the individual members of the Commission are using their personal email addresses to conduct the business of the Commission. Conclusion Accordingly, the Division is ordered to provide Mr. Sinni with a response to the request, 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 Sinni