Oak G. Malden v. Malden City Clerk's Office (SPR 20201046)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 14, 2020 SPR20/1046 Greg Lucey City Clerk Clerk Department 110 Pleasant Street, First Floor Malden, MA 02148 Dear Mr. Lucey: I have received the petition of “Oak G. 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 27, 2020, the requestor requested the following records regarding “. . . the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) FY2020 and CPC Applicant Friends of Oak Grove (FOOGI), and their FY2020 Application in connection with the Oak Grove Community Building...: 1. DOCUMENT: CPC email/letter/communication to FOOGI requesting additional information per the CPC’s review of FOOGI’s application in the December 9, 2019 CPC meeting. The additional information includes but is not limited to: A. How did FOOGI come up with the cost/budget numbers in their application? B. FOOGI to provide estimates supporting their application. C. Required Signatures by Applicant and Co-Applicant. 2. DOCUMENT: FOOGI’s response email/letter/communication to CPC containing the additional information requested in #1 above by the CPC per CPC meeting on December 9, 2019. 3. DOCUMENT: CPC email/letter/communication to FOOGI and all of the other FY2020Applicants notifying them of the March 3, 2020 deadline for submitting any additional information the CPC requested. Please refer to the CPC January 14, 2020 meeting minutes regarding the Motion made and Vote taken on this action step to be taken by the CPC. 4. DOCUMENT: CPC email/letter/communication to FOOGI inviting FOOGI to attend CPC meeting on March 10, 2020 to discuss their Application which was on the CPC Agenda. 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 SPR20/1046 Page 2 July 14, 2020 5. DOCUMENT: CPC email/letter/communication to FOOGI inviting FOOGI to attend the next CPC meeting per a Motion made and Voted upon in the March 10, 2020 meeting. 6. DOCUMENT: CPC email/letter/communication inviting and/or notifying FOOGI that their attendance is required at a CPC meeting, Public Meeting or any other meeting that was held in April or May and to be held by June 30, 2020. 7. DOCUMENT: CPC Meeting Minutes from May 12, 2020. (Draft and/or Final Form).” The City responded on June 11, 2020, by providing a link to responsive records. Claiming to not have received any responsive records, the requestor petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR20/1046, 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, § 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 “the public records requested on May 27, 2020 were not provided by Mr. Greg Lucey, RAO in his corresponding response dated June 11, 2020 which said documents are attached below.” In light of the requestor’s claim, I find the City must clarify if it possesses responsive records. 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

Greg Lucey SPR20/1046 Page 3 July 14, 2020 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: “Oak G. Malden”