Amy Friedman v. Malden City Clerk's Office (SPR 20202455)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 22, 2020 SPR20/2455 Greg Lucey City Clerk City of Malden 110 Pleasant Street Malden, MA 02148 Dear Mr. Lucey I have received the petition of Bruce Friedman 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, Mr. Friedman requested: “all [Public Records Law] requests submitted to the City in the year 2020.” Prior appeal The requested records were the subject of a prior appeal. See SPR20/2160 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) (November 23, 2020). The prior appeal was opened due to a non-response from the City to Mr. Friedman’s request. In my November 23rd determination, I ordered the City to provide Mr. Friedman with a response to his request. On December 10, 2020, via email, the City provided Mr. Friedman with a spreadsheet which includes: Request No., Request Details, Request Received Date, Response Sent On, and Response Details. On December 11th, Mr. Friedman petitioned the Supervisor regarding the spreadsheet, as a result, the current appeal was opened. In his petition, Mr. Friedman asserts: 1. The response fails to provide all [Public Records] requested received by the City. I am aware of [Public Records] requests served upon the City and its departments which are not represented in the response provided such as the police and fire departments, and requests made by email and [U.S.] [P]ostal mail; 2. The response does not provide the complete requests made upon the [C]ity. There is missing metadata including the requestor, the requestor’s contact information, the 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, City Clerk SPR20/2455 Page 2 December 22, 2020 requestors preferred mode of delivery, the department that the requestor made the request of, and any request documents; 3. The response does not provide the complete responses provided by the [C]ity. There is missing metadata including emails sent to the requestor(s), and response documents. I am aware of documents the [C]ity provided as part of or as a complete response, none of which were provided; and 4. In the response provided there are some impossible dates and times, EG: responses were issued before the request was made. 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 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). It is unclear whether the City has additional responsive records in its possession. The City must clarify this. In addition, I encourage the parties to communicate in order to satisfy Mr. Friedman’s request for all 2020 Public Records Law requests and responses in the City’s possession, custody and control. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Friedman with a response to the request, 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.

Greg Lucey, City Clerk SPR20/2455 Page 3 December 22, 2020 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Bruce Friedman