Jonna Rosenblatt v. Stoughton, Town of (SPR 20252146)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records July 24, 2025 SPR25/2146 Suzanne Gross Assistant Town Clerk Town of Stoughton 10 Pearl Street Stoughton, MA 02072 Dear Ms. Gross: I have received the petition of Jonna Rosenblatt appealing the response of the Town of Stoughton (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On July 16, 2025, Ms. Rosenblatt requested information on “…who requested the letter [the] then [C]lerk…wrote on Mar[ch] 5th 2024 after 7:05pm to [the] Town [Manager] regarding [an] incident on Mar[ch] 5[,] [20]24 at Wilkins School voting site.” The Town responded on July 18, 2025. Unsatisfied with the response, Ms. Rosenblatt petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/2146, 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 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

Suzanne Gross SPR25/2146 Page 2 July 24, 2025 provided. See 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 July 18th Response On July 18, 2025, the Town stated, “[t]he timeframe that you are looking for is not in a [PRR] log. If you would like to come and look through it you’re more than welcome. On the letter to manager FOIA I do not have a request for that our office went through the fold for the dates and did not see any request.” Current Appeal In her July 21, 2025 appeal to this office, Ms. Rosenblatt stated, “I made a F[OIA] request to see who requested a letter dated March 5, 2024 7:55pm from then town clerk . . . . to T[own] M[anager] . . . . and I was told there is no request but this letter wound up on F[ace]B[ook] on April 7, 2025.” In a July 23, 2025 telephone call between this office and the Town, the Town stated that it sent Ms. Rosenblatt records responsive to her request. In a July 23, 2025 email to this office, the Town confirmed that it has no additional records responsive to Ms. Rosenblatt’s request. No Duty to Create Records Please be advised, under the Public Records Law, a custodian is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d). In addition, a public employee is not required to answer questions, or do research, or create documents in response to questions. See 32 Op. Att’y Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977). The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). Conclusion Where the Town has confirmed that it does not possess additional records responsive to this request, and this office has no authority to compel the Town to create records, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. If Ms. Rosenblatt is not satisfied with the resolution of this administrative appeal, please be advised that this office share 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).

Suzanne Gross SPR25/2146 Page 3 July 24, 2025 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Jonna Rosenblatt