Michael Corsetti v. Manchester-by-the-Sea, Town of - (SPR 20201449)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records September 1, 2020 SPR20/1449 Christina St. Pierre Town of Manchester-by-the Sea 10 Central Street Manchester-by-the Sea, MA 01944 Dear Ms. St. Pierre: I have received the petition of Michael Corsetti appealing the response of the Town of Manchester-by-the Sea (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Corsetti requested the audio/visual records for the following meetings: 1. Planning Board: December 9, 2019; November 18, 2019; and July 8, 2019; 2. Zoning Board of Appeals: July 7, 2019-January 23, 2020; and 3. Conservation Commission: July 7, 2019-January 23, 2020. Prior appeal The responsive records were the subject of a prior appeal. See SPR20/0878 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) (June 15, 2020); SPR20/0958 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (June 26, 2020). In an email dated July 29, 2020, the Town responded, through its counsel Michele E. Randazzo of KP Law. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Corsetti appealed and SPR20/1449 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) (written response must “identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends 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

Christina St. Pierre SPR20/1449 Page 2 September 1, 2020 to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based…”); 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). The Town’s July 29th Response In its July 29th response, the Town stated, “…there was no Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting held on September 16, 2019 … the recording produced of the September 25, 2019 ZBA meeting is all that the Town has. There were technical glitches with the recording at the time of the meeting. The Town generally is not required under the Open Meeting Law to audio or video record meetings. Where it does, it is not required to keep those recordings after the minutes of the meeting have been approved, absent an intervening public records request for same. Here, the minutes for the September 25, 2019 ZBA meeting were approved on November 20, 2019. [The] request for audio / video recordings was made well after that time, in 2020; and the Town produced to you what recording it had retained, without making any ‘redactions’ or other adjustments to the recording as produced.” Further, the Town provided the Town’s website address where minutes of the meetings could be located. The Town has provided the recordings in its possession. 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). Consequently, I find that the Town has met its burden in responding to Mr. Corsetti’s request. Conclusion Accordingly, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Michael Corsetti