Matta, Ronald v. Brockton, City of - Office of the Mayor (SPR 20140511)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords October 20, 2014 SPR14/511 Mr. John A. Condon Chief Financial Officer Brockton City Hall 45 School Street Brockton, MA 02301 Dear Mr. Condon: I have received the petition of Ronald Matta appealing the nomesponse of the City of Brockton (City) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1 O(b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Matta requested copies of the City's insurance company policies. You provided an initial response on July 28,2014. Having received no further response, Mr. Matta petitioned this office. It is important to note that the City's response was not made in compliance with the timeliness requirements of the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations (Regulations). G. L. c. 4, § 7 (26); 950 C.M.R. 32 et seq. A record custodian must comply with a public records request as soon as is practicable, without umeasonable delay, and always within ten (10) calendar days. G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(a); 950 C.M.R. 32.05(2). The City is advised that all responses to requests for public records must be made in compliance with the timeliness requirement of the Regulations. It is also important to note that your July 28th letter incorrectly indicated the City would charge $.25 per page for copies of paper records. Subsequent to the intervention by a member of my staff, you explained that a more detailed written response was recently provided. A copy of this response, dated September 25, 2014 was provided to this office. Please be advised that under the Regulations a custodian of records may charge no more than $.20 per page for copies of records unless authorized by statute. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(1)(a). OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Mr. John A. Condon SPR14/511 Page Two October 20, 2014 Accordingly, the City is hereby ordered to provide a revised estimate to Mr. Matta within ten (1 0) days, prepared in accordance with this determination and the Regulations. This administrative appeal is now closed. ~~wn . illiams Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Ronald Matta