Framingham Unfiltered v. Framingham, City of - City Clerk (SPR 20220278)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 17, 2022 SPR22/0278; SPR22/0290 Carly Premo Melo City of Framingham 150 Concord Street Framingham, MA 01702 Dear Ms. Premo Melo: I have received the petitions of Brian Petrini-Smith appealing the nonresponse of the City of Framingham (City) to requests for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 3, 2022, Mr. Petrini made two (2) requests for public records. He sought emails sent or received in specifically identified email boxes for a certain time period and all text messages and emails of a City employee for a specific time period. Claiming to not yet have received responsive records, Mr. Petrini-Smith petitioned this office and these appeals, SPR22/0278 and SPR22/0290, were 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. 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 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

Carly Premo Melo SPR22/0278; SPR22/0290 Page 2 February 17, 2022 Order Subsequent to the opening of these appeals, the City informed this office it intends on providing responses. Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Petrini-Smith with said responses to these requests, 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: Brian Petrini-Smith