Anne McKinnon v. Boston, City of - Public Records (SPR 20251281)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records May 8, 2025 SPR25/1280; SPR25/1281 Grace Jung Director of Public Records City of Boston 1 City Hall Square, Room 615 Boston, MA 02201 Dear Ms. Jung: I have received the petitions of Anne McKinnon appealing the response of the City of Boston (City) to requests for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 26, 2025, in two separate requests, Ms. McKinnon requested: SPR25/1280 Bids for demolition and construction for the White Stadium Renovation Project via the Construction Management at Risk method. Specifically, the names of all firms that submitted bids, bid amounts for each, and the name of the selected firm and amount bid and amount of its contract if different. SPR25/1281 Communications that occurred at any time or from time to time in the period January 1, 2025, through March 25, 2025, concerning the proposed White Stadium project Transportation Access Plan Agreement or TAPA (emails, memoranda, reports, PowerPoint presentations, summaries of TAPA, etc.) between and from any representative of the Boston Transportation Department, Boston Unity Soccer and all of its advisors and consultants. The requested communications include outlines, draft, preliminary, and “sample” Transportation Access Plan Agreement documents and all Exhibits. The City responded to each request on April 9, 2025. It is my understanding that the City assigned reference number R001599-032625 to the request that is the subject of SPR25/1280 and assigned reference number R001600-032625 to the request that is the subject of SPR25/1281. 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

Grace Jung SPR25/1280; SPR25/1281 Page 2 May 8, 2025 Unsatisfied with the City’s responses, Ms. McKinnon petitioned this office, and these appeals, SPR25/1280 and SPR25/1281, were 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 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 City’s April 9th responses In each of its April 9, 2025 responses, the City stated, “[d]ue to the nature of your request additional time is needed. As such, the City will need up to, but no more than, fifteen (15) additional business days to review and process your request.” Subsequently in an email to Ms. McKinnon and this office on May 7, 2025, the City indicated that it was actively working to resolve any outstanding issues regarding the requests at issue. Timeliness in providing records G. L. c. 66, § 10(b) provides, in pertinent part, that if the magnitude or difficulty of the request unduly burdens the other responsibilities of the agency or municipality such that the agency or municipality cannot provide records within 10 business days, the agency or municipality must inform the requestor in writing within 10 business days. With respect to the timeframe to produce responsive records, the written response shall: identify a reasonable timeframe in which the agency or municipality shall produce the public records sought; provided, that for an agency, the timeframe shall not exceed 15 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records and for a

Grace Jung SPR25/1280; SPR25/1281 Page 3 May 8, 2025 municipality the timeframe shall not exceed 25 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records; and provided further, that the requestor may voluntarily agree to a response date beyond the timeframes set forth herein. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vi). Where Ms. McKinnon submitted her requests on March 26, 2025, and the City has not provided responsive records, nor cited an exemption for withholding records, I find the City has not met its burden in responding to the requests in accordance with G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). Consequently, the City must provide an estimated date as to when it intends to complete its review and provide the responsive records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a) (records must be provided without unreasonable delay). To the extent possible, the City must provide responsive records on a rolling basis. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Ms. McKinnon with a response(s) to her requests provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of any such response(s) must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of the response(s) to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Ms. McKinnon may appeal the substantive nature of the City’s response(s) within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Anne McKinnon