Wayne Willis v. Executive Office of Health & Human Services (SPR 20212441)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records October 7, 2021 SPR21/2441 Shara Bedard Records Access Officer Executive Office of Health & Human Services Department of Development Services 1000 Washington Street Boston, MA 02118 Dear Ms. Bedard: I have received the petition of Wayne Willis appealing the response of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § l0A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On August 31, 2021, Mr. Willis requested “… the last day that each of the [named] DDS employees reported to work at the Hogan Regional Center in Danvers in either March or April 2020.” On September 22, 2021, EOHHS responded. Unsatisfied with EOHHS’ response, Mr. Willis petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR21/2441, 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(d)(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). 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

Shara Bedard SPR21/2441 Page 2 October 7, 2021 EOHHS’ September 22, 2021 Response In its September 22nd response, EOHHS provided a table in response to the public record request which stated the employee name, last report date in March 2020 and last report date in April 2020. Current appeal In his appeal, Mr. Willis alleges, “[t]he PRR was not answered! In fact, I believe that the EOHHS RAO didn't even try to answer the question.” Please be aware that the request must reasonably describe the records sought. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(i). In a 2019 case, the Superior Court found that under the Public Records Law “[t]he reasonable description requirement contemplates that a requesting party will identify documents or categories of documents with sufficient particularity that government employees will be able to understand exactly what they are looking for, and then make a prompt production.” See Jaideep Chawla v. Dept of Revenue, Suffolk. Sup. No. l 784CV02087, at 2 (January 23, 2019). Upon review, EOHHS provided a table in response to Mr. Willis’ appeal with the categories requested. I find that the basis of Mr. Willis’ appeal is unclear. Mr. Willis is reminded 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). Conclusion Accordingly, I am unable to issue a determination at this time. Mr. Willis may wish to clarify his specific objections to the EOHHS response. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Wayne Willis