John Hawkinson v. Cambridge, City of - Law Department (SPR 20202514)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 4, 2021 SPR20/2513; SPR20/2514 Seah Levy City of Cambridge 795 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 Dear Attorney Levy: I have received the petitions of John A. Hawkinson appealing the nonresponse of the City of Cambridge (City) to requests for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Hawkinson requested various guidelines and records related to Zoom videoconferences. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within 10 business days of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)-(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § l0(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Despite being notified of the opening of these appeals and a communication from a member of the Public Records Division staff, no response has been provided. Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Hawkinson with a response to the requests, 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: John A. Hawkinson 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