Gerard F. Mackin, Jr. v. Weymouth, Town of - Legal Department (SPR 20220969)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records May 5, 2022 SPR22/0969 Marsha Geronaitis, Paralegal Town of Weymouth 75 Middle Street Weymouth, MA 02189 Dear Ms. Geronaitis: I have received the petition of Gerard Mackin appealing the response of the Town of Weymouth (Town) to requests for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 26, 2022, Mr. Mackin requested various documents regarding embroidery services including contracts, payment and invitation for public bids or other advertisements for specific years. Previous appeal These requests were the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR22/0867; SPR22/0868; SPR22/0869; SPR22/0870; SPR22/0871; SPR22/0872 and SPR22/0873 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (April 13, 2022). On April 25, 2022, the Town responded. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Mackin petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/0969, 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 agency or municipality 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 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

Marsha Geronaitis SPR22/0969 Page 2 May 5, 2022 establishing the applicability of an exemption). The Town’s April 25th response In its April 25th response, the Town indicated that for records at issue in case numbers SPR22/0867, SPR22/0868 and SPR22/0869 there were no documents found. Please be advised, under the Public Records Law the Town is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, §6A(d). 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). With respect to the records at issue in case numbers SPR22/0870, SPR22/0871, SPR22/0872 and SPR22/0873, the Town advised, “[a] response was sent through the Town's public records request platform, NextRequest to Mr. Mackin, including 6 folders containing responsive documents, entitled Maura's Embroidery- FYI 7-22, on April 13, 2022. Recognizing that the Town's response utilized the portal, which Mr. Mackin refuses to use, Municipal Finance again emailed Mr. Mackin directly, forwarding the documents to him on April 15, 2022.” Basis of Appeal In his appeal, Mr. Mackin alleges, “…I have NOT received any documents despite the representation that responsive were sent on April 15 2022, (2). The numerous requests are grouped making an individual response difficult. I request that the RAO be instructed to reply to individual requests (3) Most of the responses deny there are responsive documents and yet there is a claim that documents have been provided.” Conclusion Based on the appeal petition, I find the basis of Mr. Mackin’s appeal is unclear. The Town stated that it has no records responsive to some of the requests and provided Mr. Mackin with responsive documents concerning his other requests. Mr. Mackin 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." See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(f). Please be aware that the request must reasonably describe the records sought. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(i). Consequently, this office is unable to opine on Town’s response at this time.

Marsha Geronaitis SPR22/0969 Page 3 May 5, 2022 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Gerard Mackin Kathy Deree, RAO