Cole Rosengren v. Boston, City of - Mayor's Office (SPR 20160722)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords September 20, 2016 SPR16/722 Ms. Audrey Coulter Associate Press Secretary Office of Mayor Martin J. Walsh One City Hall Square, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02201 Dear Ms. Coulter: I have received the petition of Cole Rosengren appealing the response of the City of Boston (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lO(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Rosengren requested emails between the Mayor's Office, the Public Works and the Environment, Energy and Open Space Cabinet and a specifically identified email address and a specific time period. You responded to Mr. Rosengren with a fee estimate, however, you failed to adequately explain how the fee estimate was calculated. Fees A custodian of records may assess a reasonable fee for complying with a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lO(a); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2) (where cost of complying with a request for public records is expected to exceed ten dollars ($10.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Absent specific statutory authority to the contrary, the fees to be charged for complying with requests for public records are established by the Public Records Access Regulations (Regulations). See 950 C.M.R. 32.06 (fees for public records). Under the Regulations, a custodian ofrecords may assess a maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(1)(a). In addition to the copying fee, the Regulations provide that in cases where search or segregation time is necessary a custodian of records may charge a pro-rated fee based on the hourly rate of the lowest paid employee who is capable of performing the task. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(1)(c). The Regulations define "search time" as the time needed to locate, pull from the file, copy and refile public records, and "segregation time" as the time used to redact data that is exempt from non-exempt material. 950 C.M.R. 32.03. The search and segregation fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (a). OneAshburtonPlace, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Ms. Audrey Coulter SPR16/722 Page 2 September 20, 2016 The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). 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, § lO(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. 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 further information. Order Subsequent to a conversation with a member of my staff, this office was notified that a revised response, regarding the fee estimate, will be provided to Mr. Rosengren. I will now consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that you provide the revised response, prepared in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at sec.state. a.us. j cc: Mr. Cole Rosengren