Mary Dormer v. Carver, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20211132)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records May 18, 2021 SPR21/1132 Cara L. Dahill Town Clerk Town of Carver 108 Main Street Carver, MA 02330 Dear Ms. Dahill: I have received the petition of Mary Dormer appealing the response of the Town of Carver (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 10, 2021, Ms. Dormer requested, “[a]ll documentation regarding the Interim Town Administrator position from 2020 including all applications, resumes, job postings, all written communication, …letters, emails and the like between the select board and the applicants [and] all recommendations from the Collins Center.” On March 17, 2021, the Town responded. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Ms. Dormer petitioned this office and SPR21/1132 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

Cara L. Dahill SPR21/1132 Page 2 May 18, 2021 The Town’s May 13th response On May 13th, the Town stated, “[t]his is the same appeal I responded to on 5/6/21 (attached). This was responded to in the initial response and to my knowledge to date we have not received payment to complete the request. The response to this request- referred to as #7 in the attached email that was sent to you on 3/16/21 lists the fee to research and respond to this request in the amount of $125. The Town has no obligation to complete this request due to the time it will take for IT to compile the emails and for me to review and redact as the lowest paid employees able to do these tasks until the fee is paid. Proof of payment needs to be received before proceeding.” May 14, 2021, Current appeal In her email dated May 14, 2021, Ms. Dormer stated “[b]ased upon the attached information I expect that all fees for all of my requests past, present and in the future will be waived.” Waiver of fees In her email, Ms. Dormer requested that the fee be waived. Please be advised the Supervisor may not mandate that a records access officer waive fees assessed for complying with a public records request. Under the Public Records Law, the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee charged under this subsection upon a showing that disclosure of a requested record is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor, or upon a showing that the requestor lacks the financial ability to pay the full amount of the reasonable fee. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(v); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(k). Conclusion If outstanding issues remain, Ms. Dormer may file a further appeal. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Mary Dormer