Alan Sliski v. Appellate Tax Board (SPR 20220191)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 9, 2022 SPR22/0191 David A. Cella, Esq. Chief Counsel Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board 100 Cambridge Street, Suite 200 Boston, MA 02114 Dear Attorney Cella: I have received the petition of Alan Sliski appealing the response of the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board (Board) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On December 10, 2021, Mr. Sliski requested: “copies of any and all communications and filing between [the Board] and the town of Lincoln, or their representatives or residents for calendar year 2021. The documents provided should be in their original electronic form. This does not include PDF or other files dated after this request is received.” The requested records were the subject of a prior appeal. See SPR22/0061 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) (January 26, 2022). The Supervisor closed the appeal based on the Board’s intent to provide Mr. Sliski with a response to the request. On January 25, 2022 via email, the Board provided Mr. Sliski with responsive records. As a result of the Board’s response, Mr. Sliski petitioned and the current appeal was opened. Preferred format In his communication with this office, Mr. Sliski indicated that the Board did not provide the records in native electronic format. Pursuant to 950 C.M.R. 32.07(1)(c), “[t]he records access officer shall presume that a requestor prefers copies provided in machine-readable electronic form, when electronic form is available . . .” Also, “[a] records access officer shall presume a requestor prefers electronic copies and must provide electronic records in native form when possible.” 950 C.M.R. 32.07(1)(d). Mr. Sliski seeks the responsive records in their native format, preferably electronic. In addition, Mr. Sliski also seeks any email communications that may be responsive to his request. It is unclear from the Board’s January 25th response, whether any of the responsive records are in native electronic format, whether the Board has any responsive email communications, and 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

David A. Cella, Esq. SPR22/0191 Page 2 February 9, 2022 whether the Board has any further records in its possession that are responsive to the request. Subsequently, I learned that a representative from the Board intends on providing Mr. Sliski with a response to clarify the outstanding issues. Accordingly, the Board is ordered to provide Mr. Sliski with a response in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within ten business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Sliski may appeal the substantive nature of the Board’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Alan Sliski