Joan P. Beckta v. Everett, City of - Office of the City Clerk (SPR 20242724)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records October 10, 2024 SPR24/2724 Colleen M. Mejia, Esq. City Solicitor City of Everett 484 Broadway Everett, MA 02149 Dear Attorney Mejia: I have received the petition of Joan Beckta appealing the response of the City of Everett (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On August 14, 2024, Ms. Beckta requested, “[a]ny records showing that any actual person … received any money from the jobs program for Everett students (project id #11 on Q4 report). Don’t know if it would be payroll records or what. They must have been assigned employee numbers, I would assume. I just want to see Employee 12345 got $150.00 the week of MM/DD/2022.” The City responded on September 18, 2024, providing responsive records. Unsatisfied with the City’s response, Ms. Beckta petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/2724, 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, § 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. Att’y 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 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

Colleen M. Mejia, Esq. SPR24/2724 Page 2 October 10, 2024 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 September 18th Responses In its September 18, 2024 response, the City provided Ms. Beckta with responsive records. Current Appeal In her appeal to this office, Ms. Beckta states, “I sent a reminder on 9/18/2024 that what I was sent in response was not for youth who got paid out of the ‘year-round jobs’ funds but I- don’t-know-what, since it contains two full-time City Hall employees. If they switched the payment out of what they put on their quarterly report in 2022 to take it out of Revenue Loss instead, that’s not [my] problem; let them show me the trail on that. I want to see employee numbers (redact names is ok with me), dates and amounts. I want to see that we actually helped some young people with our ARPA funds, not just our consultant …” In a telephone call between a staff attorney of the Public Records Division and the City on October 9, 2024, the City confirmed that it provided all records responsive to the request. Conclusion Where the City confirmed that it does not possess additional records responsive to Ms. Beckta’s request, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. If Ms. Beckta is not satisfied with the resolution of this administrative appeal, please be advised that this office shares jurisdiction with the Superior Court of the Commonwealth. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(b)(ix), 10A(c) (pursuing administrative appeal does not limit availability of judicial remedies). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Joan Beckta