Adele Blong v. Eastham, Town of (SPR 20160402)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords June 23, 2016 SPR16/402 Ms. Sheila Vanderhoef Town of Eastham-Town Administrator 2500 State Highway Eastham, MA Dear Ms. Vanderhoef: I have received the petition of Adele Blong appealing the response of the Town of Eastham (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Ms. Blong requested to view the bids and proposals submitted in response to the Purcell property request for proposals (RFPs). By email, the Town denied the request by stating that the records are not public until the evaluations are complete. It is my understanding that the records have been provided; Ms. Blong requests in her petition that this office provide information to the Town regarding the applicability of Exemption (h) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7 (26) (h). Exemption (h) contains two clauses to permit withholding of: proposals and bids to enter into any contract or agreement until the time for the opening of bids in the case of proposals or bids to be opened publicly, and until the time for the receipt of bids or proposals has expired in all other cases; and inter-agency or intra-agency communications made in connection with an evaluation process for reviewing bids or proposals, prior to a decision to enter into negotiations with or to award a contract to, a particular person G. L. c. 4, §7 (26) Under the first clause, bids and proposals may be withheld, but only until bidding is closed. After the bidding period has closed the first clause of Exemption (h) may no longer be cited to withhold bids. The purpose of the first clause is to promote fairness in the bidding process; it is not intended to shield disclosure of bids once the bidding process is closed. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Ms. Sheila Vanderhoef SPR16/402 Page 2 June 23, 2016 Once the bidding process is closed, the second clause of Exemption (h) permits a records custodian to withhold "inter-agency or intra-agency communications" regarding the bids until a decision has been made "to enter into negotiations with or to award a contract to, a particular person." G. L. c. 4, §7 (26). While Exemption (h) permits a records custodian to withhold such deliberative material, it will not operate to permit nondisclosure of the responsive bids or proposals submitted once the closing date for such bids has occurred. To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records please refer to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is available on the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Attorneys on my staff are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, members of my staff will visit a records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determination for furth information. illiams cc: Ms. Adele Blong