Frank Wood v. Framingham, City of (SPR 20230197)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records February 16, 2023 SPR23/0197 Paul J. Iversen Records Access Officer City of Framingham 150 Concord Street Framingham, MA 01702 Dear Mr. Iversen: I have received the petition of Frank Wood appealing the response of the City of Framingham (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 17, 2023, Mr. Wood requested the following: [1] …any documentation of mileage of the odometer of the vehicle assigned to [a named person] when he was the building commissioner between 1/1/2021 and 12/31/2021. This could include inspections documents, gas usage logs, fill up logs, any servicing documents… [2] … any documentation of mileage of the odometer of the vehicle assigned to [a named person] when she was the mayor between 1/1/2021 and 12/31/2021. This could include inspections documents, gas usage logs, fill up logs, any servicing documents… [3] …any documentation of mileage of the odometer of the vehicle assigned to [a named person] as the COO between 1/1/2022 and 12/31/2022. This could include inspections documents, gas usage logs, fill up logs, any servicing documents… On January 31, 2023, the City responded. Unsatisfied with the City’s response, Mr. Wood petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR23/0197, 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, § 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

Paul J. Iversen SPR23/0197 Page 2 February 16, 2023 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. The City’s January 31st response In its January 31, 2023, response the City stated the following: In accordance with G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(i) and the Chawla decision . . ., whereas you seek “any documentation of mileage” which you claim “could include” a list of categories of records ostensibly related to your request, it is unclear with “sufficient particularity” which records you seek. It appears that you propose City personnel comb through every existent City record with regard to certain City- owned vehicles in search of what you are describing as “any documentation of mileage” and are proposing a few places to start looking. Thus, your request “calls upon non-lawyer administrative personnel to interpret the scope of what is sought, and then make fine judgments about what documents are and are not sufficiently ‘[regarding]’ the category of materials requested.” Chawla, at 2. Accordingly, in accordance with the law, this request is closed. Current Appeal In his current appeal, Mr. Wood indicated that his request was clear and that the City must provide responsive records in their possession. Reasonable Description of Records Sought A public records request must reasonably describe the records sought. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(i). In Chawla, the Superior court found that under the Public Records Law “[t]he reasonable description requirement contemplates that a requesting party will identify documents or categories of documents with sufficient particularity that government employees will be able to understand exactly what they are looking for, and then make a prompt production.” See Jaideep Chawla v. Dept of Revenue, Suffolk. Sup. No. l 784CV02087, at 2 (January 23, 2019).

Paul J. Iversen SPR23/0197 Page 3 February 16, 2023 Conclusion Based on the forgoing, I find it is unclear what specific records Mr. Wood is requesting. Mr. Wood may wish to modify or clarify his request to the City in order to provide the sufficient particularity needed in order to search the City’s records. Accordingly, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. If Mr. Wood wishes to submit another public records request to the City as outlined above, and is unsatisfied with the response, he may again appeal that response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Frank Wood