Saklad, Don Kempner Warner v. Cambridge, City of - Public Library (SPR 20140307)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords July 23, 2014 SPR14/307 Mr. Keplin K.U. Allwater, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor City of Cambridge Office of the City Solicitor 795 Massachusetts A venue Cambridge, MA 0213 9 Dear Attorney Allwater: I have received a petition from Don Warner Saklad appealing the response of the City of Cambridge Public Library (Library) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Saklad requested the opportunity to read the unapproved draft minutes and handwritten meeting notes from the April9, 2014 meeting of the Cambridge Public Library Board. Mr. Saklad asked that the Library make the draft minutes and notes available in the Library's reading room, and that copies be provided to him via email. The City offered to make copies of the responsive records available for a fee, and Mr. Saklad appealed. Marilyn Gagalis, Coordinator of the Library informed Mr. Saklad that he would be provided the records upon payment of $3.22 for the records, entailing six ( 6) minutes to retrieve (search), scan and email the records. You confirmed these costs in a conversation with an attorney on my staff. In response to a query from an attorney on my staff you explained the City may be willing to provide copies of notes and draft minutes in the reading room, but would not provide access to the original records. You explained that the City is aware of its duty to protect and safeguard records of the government, especially original records. Copying the records ensures that the records are not accidentally damaged. You further explained that even ifthe record were available to read without copying, the City would continue to assess a fee to search for the records. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mr. Keplin K.U. Allwater, Esq. SPR14/307 Page Two July 23, 2014 I find that the City is permitted to assess a fee for searching for responsive records, but may not assess fee for copies of records that are not requested and not retained by Mr. Saklad. To the extent that any fee estimate reflects costs for copies not received, the City must revise these estimates in a manner consistent with this determination. This administrative appeal is closed. Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Don Warner Saklad Ms. Marilyn Gagalis