Challengers for Secretary of State and a race for the open Attorney General seat mean at least one of the two offices in charge of attempting to corral public-records scofflaws will have a fresh face in it — and here’s what the candidates said when asked about how they’d deal with recalcitrant records custodians such as Boston.
The two seats are both statewide elected positions. For Secretary of State, seven-term incumbent William Galvin is attempting to fend off a Democratic primary challenge from NAACP Boston President Tanisha Sullivan and, prospectively in the general election, Republican perennial candidate Rayla Campbell.
The AG’s post is open, with two-term top prosecutor Maura Healey appearing set to claim the Democratic nomination for governor this fall. Running to replace her are former Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell, longtime labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan and former assistant AG Quentin Palfrey.
Currently, anyone petitioning a city, town, school district, state agency or most other Massachusetts public institutions can appeal either silence or denials to the Secretary of State’s office’s public-records supervisor, who often sends the entity a letter telling them to comply with the request.
But then it’s the AG’s office that’s fitted with the only real teeth regarding this law. The Secretary of State’s office can refer particularly difficult scofflaws to the AG, which can then sue.
Galvin’s campaign didn’t respond to requests for comment for this article, but his office has talked numerous times over his many years as Secretary of State about what the above-outlined process is as it stands. While he’s introduced various bills aimed at removing the laws shielding the governor’s office and Legislature from being subject to public-records law — moves that those bodies have rejected — his approach to public-records requests appears set.
Each one of the various Secretary of State and AG candidates talked about how notoriously opaque the state is an a whole
Galvin’s primary opponent, Sullivan, told the Herald in an interview that she would want to modernize the Secretary of State’s clunky website to make it easier to track requests and appeal.
“It’s important that if there are government agencies that are frequently finding themselves being challenged,” Sullivan said, “there are structures in place to document that.”
And Rayla Campbell, the Republican challenger, said she frequently makes records requests of school districts and other entities as part of her conservative activism, and is often stymied.
“As soon as you investigate and find issues you need to send them along,” she said. “I follow laws and statutes. I expect my government to do the same.”
Among the AG candidates, Andrea Campbell said in a statement that she “will firmly enforce our public records laws, and work to expand those laws to eliminate exemptions for the Governor’s Office and the Legislature. I would also explore the implementation of penalties, including greater fines, for those who do not comply with these laws.”
Liss-Riordan in a statement cited her own experience using public records laws as a civil-rights attorney and said she will “take seriously any potential violation of the law and ensure that any entity subject to the law complies with it. I will not shy away from holding accountable anyone who blatantly violates the law.”
Palfrey told the Herald in a interview that lawsuits should continue to be an option for public entities that “are not complying,” though there should be a “good faith effort” to work with them.
“We should err on the side of making sure the public has access to as many records of possible,” he said, adding that he’d like to focus on campaign financing and a statewide “Brady list” of questionable cops.
Republican AG candidate Jay McMahon couldn’t be reached for comment.
Massachusetts Secretary of State, Attorney General candidates talk public-records enforcement & Latest News Update
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