Laura H. Ortiz v. Lynn, City of - Office of the City Solicitor (SPR 20213069)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 6, 2021 SPR21/3069 James P. Lamanna, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor City of Lynn Lynn City Hall 3 City Hall Square; Room 406 Lynn, MA 01901 Dear Attorney Lamanna: I have received the petition of Laura Ortiz appealing the response of the City of Lynn (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On October 18, 2021, Ms. Ortiz requested 11 categories of records regarding food services from 2018 to 2021. The City provided a response on November 10, 2021, including responsive records. Unsatisfied with the City’s response, Ms. Ortiz petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR21/3069, was opened as a result. This appeal pertains to Items 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9 of the request. For Items 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9, Ms. Ortiz requested: [1] Copy of all Contracts between City of Lynn and/or Lynn Public School District/other with Chartwells, and/or Chartwells K12 Note: For School Years 2021-2022, 2020-2021[,] 2019-2020 and 2018-2019 [2] Copy of all Contracts between City of Lynn and/or Lynn Public School District/other with Chartwells, and/or Chartwells K12 Partner Revolution Foods (who supplies the meals for any Lynn Public School) Note: For School Years 2021-2022, 2020-2021[,] 2019-2020 and 2018-2019 [7] Copy of any formal food complaint(s) against Chartwells and/or Chartwells K12 and/or their Partner Revolution Foods regarding ANY issues with the food services they provided and/or that was raised by LPS staff, students and/ or parents. That was served to the City of Lynn, and/or the Lynn Public School District/other and/or the Food Services Department and/or that came to the attention of the City/School District that was sent from the USDA/other against Lynn Public Schools. . . . For School Years 2021-2022, 2020-2021[,] 2019-2020 and 2018-2019. . . . [8] Copy of any formal food complaint(s) against Lynn Public School District and/or the City of Lynn regarding Chartwells and/or Chartwells K12 and/or 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

James P. Lamanna, Esq. SPR21/3069 Page 2 December 6, 2021 their Partner Revolution Foods regarding ANY issues with the food services they provided and/or that was raised by LPS staff, students and/or parents. That was served to the City of Lynn, and/or the Lynn Public School District/ other and/or the Food Services Department and/or that came to the attention of the City/School District that was sent from the USDA/other. Note: For School Years 2021-2022, 2020-2021, 2019-2020 and 2018-2019. [9] Policies of City of Lynn, and/or Lynn Public School District/other and/or Food Services Department or Individual Lynn Public Schools in regards to storage/service of any Chartwells and/or Chartwells K12 and/or their Partner Revolution Food products served to LPS staff and/or students. . . . Ms. Ortiz’s appeal with respect to Items 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10 of her October 18th request was addressed in a previous appeal. See SPR21/2941 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (November 10, 2021). Please refer to the determination in SPR21/2941 for analysis of this matter. Purpose of request; identity of requestor Please note that the reason for which a requestor seeks access to or a copy of a public record does not afford any greater right of access to the requested information than other persons in the general public. The Public Records Law does not distinguish between requestors. Access to a record pursuant to the Public Records Law rests on the content of the record and not the circumstances of the requestor. See Bougas v. Chief of Police of Lexington, 371 Mass. 59, 64 (1976). Accordingly, Ms. Ortiz’s purpose in making the request has no bearing on the public status of any existing responsive records. 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. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records.

James P. Lamanna, Esq. SPR21/3069 Page 3 December 6, 2021 Current appeal In the City’s November 10, 2021 response, the City indicated that it enclosed “. . . all documents in the possession of the City of Lynn . . . responsive to Ms. Ortiz’s requests.” In her appeal petition, Ms. Ortiz states that she was not provided with the following records: A. Standard Operating Procedure/Policy/Inspection Records for “all documents relating to inspections and procedures, policies and any standards followed at each individual schools or as a district.”. . . C. All Health Inspection Reports for food services/cafeterias at all of Lynn Public School Districts Schools regardless if Chartwells/Compass-USA did the inspections or the Board of Health Lynn . . . D. All emails to/from and documents attached that the City of Lynn retains entitled Subject: School Lunch Contract (June 1 2020-present) . . . In light of the above, I find the City must confirm if it possesses additional records responsive to Items 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9 of the October 18th request. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). To the extent that the requested records exist, I find the City must provide them in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law or identify an exemption that applies to withhold the records from disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). Public records requests; petitions to Supervisor of Records In her appeal petition, Ms. Ortiz appears to include a request that was not in her original October 18th request related to the Items subject to this appeal. Ms. Ortiz claims records responsive to the following request were not provided: A copy of any records requests and responses to/from (. . . @gmail.com) including request made via the Lynn Public Schools website for records requests, including all attached documents by the Lynn Public Schools (October 18, 2021- November 15, 2021) . . . Ms. Ortiz is reminded that a requestor may petition the Supervisor of Records only after a written request has been made to the records access officer (RAO) of the governmental entity that creates or receives the records. 950 C.M.R. 32.01(1). Where the request for subsequent records was not made directly to the City’s RAO, I decline to opine on that matter. If Ms. Ortiz would like to obtain copies of these records, she is advised that she should make a separate public records request to the City’s RAO. Ms. Ortiz may then appeal the substantive nature of

James P. Lamanna, Esq. SPR21/3069 Page 4 December 6, 2021 the City’s response within ninety calendar days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Ms. Ortiz with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (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: Laura Ortiz