Cindy L. Christiansen, PhD v. Milton, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20212004)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 20, 2021 SPR21/2004 Michael D. Dennehy Town of Administrator Town of Milton 525 Canton Avenue Milton, MA 02186 Dear Mr. Dennehy: I have received the petition of Cindy L. Christiansen appealing the response of the Town of Milton (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On June 14, 2021, Ms. Christiansen requested: eight FY20 Billing Summaries from Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane (MHTL) to the Town, that are marked paid, that indicate “billing through” or closest date to these dates: 2/28/2020; 1/31/2020; 12/31/2019; 11/30/2019; 10/31/2019; 9/30/2019; 8/31/2019 and 7/31/2019, that shows line items: total fees for this matter and total disbursements for this matter, and for each matter/category used by MHTL for work billed to its retainer fee or disbursements, e.g., “General Ongoing,” “Select Board,” “Milton Landing,” etc. The Town provided Ms. Christiansen with 8 Retainer Fee Services invoices for the 8 months listed in her request, and 4 monthly billing summaries that were not the billing summaries for the dates specified in her June 14, 2021 request. Ms. Christiansen states, “…I should have received billing summaries for the 8 months from July 2019 through February 2020 which were specified in my request.” Unsatisfied with the provision of records, Ms. Christiansen petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. 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). 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

Michael D. Dennehy SPR21/2004 Page 2 August 20, 2021 Ms. Christiansen has asked this office to obtain the billing summaries from July 2019 through February 2020. It is unclear whether the Town is in possession of additional records responsive to this request. The Town must clarify this issue. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Ms. Christiansen 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Cindy L. Christiansen