Grace Ferguson v. Lawrence, City of - Office of the City Clerk (SPR 20230406)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records March 15, 2023 SPR23/0406 Eileen O’Connor Bernal City Clerk City of Lawrence 200 Common Street, 1st Floor Lawrence, MA 01840 Dear Ms. O’Connor Bernal: I have received the petition of Grace Ferguson, of the New Bedford Light, appealing the response of the City of Lawrence (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 3, 2023, Ms. Ferguson requested “[p]ayroll records showing the name, title, department, and total compensation for each city employee in 2022 [including] ... records specifying how much of each employee’s earnings were for overtime, administrative leave, injury leave, police details, and other benefits/compensation outside their regular salary/wage.” The City responded on February 7, 2023. Unsatisfied with the response, Ms. Ferguson petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR23/0406, 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, § (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. 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

Eileen O’Connor Bernal SPR23/0406 Page 2 March 15, 2023 The City’s February 7th response In its February 7, 2023 response, the City provided the requested payroll records. Current appeal In her appeal, Ms. Ferguson stated that the payroll records “...did not include a key to the abbreviations in the data columns that specify the different types of pay. My request included ‘records specifying how much of each employee’s earnings were for overtime, administrative leave, injury leave, police details, and other benefits/compensation outside their regular salary/wage.’ It is unclear whether the city is in possession of records specifying each of the different types of pay I requested, and it is also unclear whether I have received records for each of those pay types because the column headings in the data include abbreviations and the city did not provide a key to those abbreviations.” Based on Ms. Ferguson’s claims, in conjunction with the City’s response, it is unclear if the City possesses any additional records responsive to the 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 custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). However, custodians are expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requestors in obtaining the desired information. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5). Consequently, the City must clarify whether additional records exist. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Ms. Ferguson with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten 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, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Grace Ferguson