Mike Marketti v. Southbridge, Town of - Office of the Town Manager (SPR 20202314)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 9, 2020 SPR20/2314 Yvonne M. Tortis Town of Southbridge Office of the Town Manager 41 Elm Street Southbridge, MA 01550 Dear Ms. Tortis: I have received the petition of Mike Marketti appealing the response of the Town of Southbridge (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Marketti requested “the names and addresses of all the businesses who received CDBG-CV grant funds which the Town Council voted to release at the Town Council Meeting of November 16, 2020, Agenda item #26.” The Town provided a response to Mr. Marketti, denying access to responsive records. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Marketti petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR20/2314, 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. 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

Yvonne M. Tortis SPR20/2314 Page 2 December 9, 2020 Current Appeal In its response, the Town states that “as of today, no grant funds have been distributed as applications are currently being reviewed.” The Town further states that “[t]he names and addresses of the businesses you requested cannot be provided as identifying information is confidential and cannot be released based on the guidelines we received.” As stated above, in order to withhold a requested record, a custodian must not only cite to an exemption, but also demonstrate how that exemption applies to the responsive record. See G. L. c. 66, § 14(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3)(c)(5),(6). Where the Town has not identified an exemption and explained how such exemption permits it to withhold the requested record, I find it has not met its burden in responding to this request. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Marketti with a response to this request, to be provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 10 business days. 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: Councilor Mike Marketti