Amelia Pak-Harvey v. Lowell, City of - Law Department (SPR 20160028)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords February 8, 2016 SPR16/028 Ms. Christine P. O'Connor, Esq. City of Lowell - Law Department 375 Merrimack Street, 3r Floor Lowell, MA 01852 Dear Attorney O'Connor: I have received the petition of Amelia Pak-Harvey of The Lowell Sun appealing the nonresponse ofthe City of Lowell (City) to her request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Ms. Pak-Harvey requested records of minutes taken by the School Committee (School) at their last meeting on December 2, 2015. More specifically, she requested records regarding the motion: "School Committee to release minutes for Executive Session relative to union contract negotiations/grievances." Having received no written response, Ms. Pak-Harvey petitioned this office. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (10) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b); 950 C.M.R. 32.05. The response may be an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. City is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, this office was notified that written responses were provided, dated January 19, 2016, January 20, 2016, and January 25, 2016. In these responses, the School states it is withholding the requested minutes due to a fact-finder's order as well as Exemption (d) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(d). Whereas this matter was opened based upon the City's failure to provide a written response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Open Meeting Law The nature of Ms. Pak-Harvey's request and the content of the School's responses raise issues that potentially invoke the Open Meeting Law. Given that an interpretation of the Open Meeting Law falls within the authority of the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) and not this office, I decline to provide a determination as to the status of executive session minutes. See G. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Ms. Christine P. O'Connor, Esq. SPR16/028 Page 2 February 8, 2016 L. c. 30A, § 23. It is recommended that you contact the AGO should you seek a determination on this issue. I have copied the Director ofthe AGO's Division of Open Government on this letter. cc: Ms. Amelia Pak-Harvey Mr. James P. Hall, Esq. Ms. Amy Nable, Esq., Division of Open Government