Jeffrey Salazar v. Maynard, Town of - Office of the Town Clerk (SPR 20210070)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 27, 2021 SPR21/0070 Joanna Bilotta Town Clerk Town of Maynard 195 Main Street Maynard, MA 01754 Dear Ms. Bilotta: I have received the petition of Jeffrey Salazar appealing the response of the Town of Maynard (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On November 30, 2020, Mr. Salazar requested records relating to an identified incident. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Salazar petitioned this office and SPR21/0070 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. Current Appeal In its December 28th response the Town stated that they “provided…the only record/ document that there is.” 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

Joanna Bilotta SPR21/0070 Page 2 January 27, 2021 Based on the foregoing, it is unclear what the basis of Mr. Salazar’s appeal is. Mr. Salazar is advised that all petitions for appeal “shall specifically describe the nature of the requestor’s objections to the response or failure to timely respond.” 950 C.M.R. 32.08(l)(f). Mr. Salazar may wish to clarify this matter and his objections to the Town’s response. Please be aware that all petitions for appeal of a response by a records access officer must be made within 90 calendar days of the date of the response by a records access officer. See 32.08(1)(d). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Jeffrey Salazar