Don Kempner Warner Saklad v. Boston, City of - Public Records (SPR 20232698)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records November 17, 2023 SPR23/2698 Shawn A. Williams, Esq. Director of Public Records Record Access Officer City of Boston One City Hall Square Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Williams: I have received the petition of Don Kemper Warner Saklad 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 October 4, 2023, Mr. Saklad requested an, “understandable, intelligible stenographic record from Wednesday, October 4, 2023 Public meeting of Boston City Council…” The City responded on October 8, 2023. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Saklad petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR23/2698, was opened as 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, § l0A(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. 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

Shawn A. Williams, Esq. SPR23/2698 Page 2 November 17, 2023 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 October 8th Response In its October 8, 2023 response, the City provided the record as an email attachment. Current Appeal In his appeal, Mr. Saklad states, “[t]he City’s Attachment in that City’s Response [is] not accessible… Please Appeal this uninterpretable response… Public funding for this Stenographic Record is for an understandable Stenographic Record as steno is more detailed than the Minutes, steno is more accurate than video captions and the Stenographic Record is more convenient for hard of hearing folks[.]” Preferred Format A records access officer must, to the extent feasible, provide public records to a requestor in electronic format unless the record is not available in electronic form or the requestor does not have the ability to receive or access the records in electronic format and if feasible, in the requestor’s preferred format. In the absence of a preferred format, the records must be provided in a searchable machine-readable form. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5)(d). In light of Mr. Saklad’s appeal, I find the City must clarify whether the responsive records can be provided in the format that Mr. Saklad has requested. I encourage the parties to work together to resolve the outstanding issues. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Saklad with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 10 business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Don Kemper Warner Saklad