Ryan Hoffman v. Boston, City of - Public Records (SPR 20221273)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records June 14, 2022 SPR22/1273 Shawn A. Williams, Esq. Director of Public Records Records Access Officer City of Boston One City Hall Square Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Williams: I have received the petition of Ryan Hoffman appealing the response of the City of Boston (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 12, 2022, Mr. Hoffman requested: All email correspondence to or from any employee, agent, or official within the mayor’s office, discussing relaxing or rescinding of the January 2022 vaccine requirement in Boston. This includes discussions prior to the enactment or public announcement of said order. Limit the search to emails between the aforementioned individuals and any email address from a .gov domain, any email address from a .edu domain, and any email address from the bphc.org domain. Additionally, on January 12, 2022, Mr. Hoffman requested: All email correspondence to or from any employee, agent, or official within the mayor’s office, discussing relaxing or rescinding of the August 2021 mask mandate in Boston. This includes discussions prior to the enactment or public announcement of said mandate. Limit the search to emails between the aforementioned individuals and any email from a .gov domain, any email with a .edu domain, and any email from the bphc.org domain. Previous Appeals These requests have been the subject of previous appeals. See SPR22/0265 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (February 17, 2022); SPR22/0266 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (February 17, 2022). In my February 17th determinations, I ordered the City to provide Mr. Hoffman with a response to his requests, provided in a manner consistent with these orders, the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations within ten (10) business 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

Shawn Williams, Esq. SPR22/1273 Page 2 June 14, 2022 days. On May 31, 2022, the City responded. Unsatisfied with the City’s response, Mr. Hoffman petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/1273, 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(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Att’y 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. The City’s May 31st Response In its May 31, 2022 response, the City states: “[i]t seems you would be best served by contacting the Boston Public Health Commission; that office is not a department of the City of Boston.” Current Appeal In his appeal, Mr. Hoffman states that: [t]he response does not address all aspects of my request. The request asks for correspondence between members of the [mayor’s] office and multiple groups of people. The Boston Public Health Commission should not have access to correspondence with 2/3 of these groups [and the] City would be required to maintain copies of the correspondence with [Boston Public Health Commission] email addresses. If the [Boston Public Health Commission] did have copies of any records I requested, the city should have copies of the same correspondence, which would be responsive to my request. Based on the City’s response, in conjunction with Mr. Hoffman’s appeal, it is unclear if the City possesses records responsive to the original 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

Shawn Williams, Esq. SPR22/1273 Page 3 June 14, 2022 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). Where possible, the City must produce any non-exempt segregable portions of the records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a). Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Hoffman 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: Ryan Hoffman