CJ Ferry v. Fall River, City of - Office of the City Clerk (SPR 20231081)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records June 1, 2023 SPR23/1081 Alison M. Bouchard City Clerk City of Fall River One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722 Dear Ms. Bouchard: I have received the petition of C.J. Ferry appealing the response of the City of Fall River (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On May 18, 2023, Mr. Ferry requested: “…the Office of the Mayor and any other pertinent offices provide me an un-redacted copy of the budget listing all employees by name with their salaries and departments.” Mr. Ferry requested that the record be in PDF format. The City provided Mr. Ferry with a May 22, 2023 response, indicating, “[t]he FY2023 budget can be found on the [C]ity website in the format requested. At the current time, the FY2024 budget does not include employee names…” In an email reply on May 22nd, Mr. Ferry informed the City, “I am seeking the budget that has all the employees’ names included. The budget online does not satisfy the request. The city council has requested that this budget be made available with all employee names as I do.” The same day, Mr. Ferry petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) asking, “I am requesting the [Supervisor] review my request and response of the City of Fall River.” As a result, this appeal was opened. 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). 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

Alison M. Bouchard SPR23/1081 Page 2 June 1, 2023 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) (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 establishing the applicability of an exemption). 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. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, on May 31st by telephone, the City Clerk informed an attorney in the Public Records Division that the City has posted on the City’s website, both the FY2023 and FY2024 Budgets that included the names of the City’s employees. It is my understanding that Mr. Ferry has received the requested records. Conclusion Accordingly, where, the City provided Mr. Ferry with the records responsive to his request, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: C.J. Ferry