Don Kempner Warner Saklad v. Boston, City of - Public Records (SPR 20240950)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records April 9, 2024 SPR24/0950 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 March 13, 2024, Mr. Saklad requested an “understandable, intelligible stenographic record from the March 6, 2024 Public Meeting of Boston City Council…” The City responded on March 26, 2024. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Saklad petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/0950, 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. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be 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. SPR24/0950 Page 2 April 9, 2024 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 March 26th Response In its March 26, 2024 response, the City provided a record as an email attachment. Current Appeal In his appeal, Mr. Saklad states, “[p]lease Appeal that uninterpretable response, that Attachment from Boston City Clerks Office. 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. The City must clarify this matter. 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