Mary Parsons v. Rockland, Town of (SPR 20243088)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records November 26, 2024 SPR24/3088 Liza Landy Town Clerk Town of Rockland 242 Union Street Rockland, MA 02370 Dear Ms. Landy: I have received the petition of Mary Parsons appealing the response of the Town of Rockland (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On October 21, 2024, Ms. Parsons requested, “copies of the Zoning Board of Appeals open session and executive sessions (ZBA) meetings for February 6, 2024, February 16, 2024, April 2, 2024, April 16, 2024, September 10, 2024.” Previous Appeal This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR24/3058 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (November 13, 2024). In my November 13th determination, I closed the appeal after the Town provided a supplemental response to Ms. Parsons on November 12, 2024. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Ms. Parsons petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/3088, 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. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of 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

Liza Landy SPR24/3088 Page 2 November 26, 2024 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 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 Town’s November 12th Response In its November 12, 2024 response, the Town stated, “[t]he 2024 Open Session Minutes can be found on the Town of Rockland’s web page[.]” The Town additionally provided a link to the Town’s Agenda Center and noted that the provided records were responsive to the following dates: “February 6[,] February 20 (no record of a ZBA meeting on February 16)[,] April 2[,] April 16 [and] September 10[.]” The Town further explained, “[t]he Executive Session minutes have been conditionally approved, however, they still need to be reviewed, edited and redacted by land use counsel and will be released once they have been reviewed in Executive Session.” Current Appeal In her appeal petition, Ms. Parsons states, “[t]he Rockland Zoning Board Appeals open session meeting minutes are the only meeting minutes on the town website.” She further contends, “[t]he Executive Session Minutes are not on the town website and I have received no explanation of why they are not public. The ZBA gave approval of this project in October 2023.” Open Meeting Law The Town’s response raises issues related to the Open Meeting Law, rather than the Public Records Law. See G. L. c. 30A, § 22(f). Given that an interpretation of the Open Meeting Law falls within the authority of the Office of the Attorney General and not this office, I decline to address those issues in this determination. See G. L. c. 30A, § 23. If unresolved issues remain, I encourage the parties to contact the Office of the Attorney General for a determination on the status of the executive session minutes. Accordingly, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Mary Parsons