Joseph Viglione v. Medford, City of - Law Department (SPR 20170283)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 15, 2017 SPR17/283 Kimberly M. Scanlon, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor - Records Access Officer City of Medford - Law Department City Hall, Room 206 85 George P. Hassett Drive Medford, MA 0215 5 Dear Attorney Scanlon: I have received the petition of Joseph Viglione appealing the response of the City of Medford - Law Department (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Viglione requested a copy of: 1. Documents containing the monies received by the City from Verizon and Comcast for P/E/G Access fee funding from cable television subscribers and any other monies from those providers and any other providers in regards to access V for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017; 2. Documents detailing how these monies are dispersed, the percentage for the Government channel, the Educational channel, the Public channel and the monies for P/E/G; 3. Documents concerning the exact amount of money put in to the General Fund for 2015, 2016 and 2017 from the P/E/G monies and how each dime, nickel and penny of it is spent - if the monies designated for the Government channel are, instead spent on teachers, exactly how much of the Government money and who the teachers are and what they have received; 4. Documents regarding the new Public Access station - who will be operating it - a non-profit or the City, and how much money will go to the high school from the P/E/G monies; and 5. Documents showing how much time the public will have access to the new station. The City provided Mr. Viglione with a response on February 22, 2017, accompanied by records responsive to his Request Number 1 free of any applicable Public Records Law fees. The City informed Mr. Viglione that the City's Finance Department is not in possession of any One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us

Kimberly M. Scanlon, Esq. SPRl 7/283 Page 2 March 15, 2017 documents regarding his Request Numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5. Mr. Vigione appealed your February 22nd response. Under the Public Records Law, the City is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. Nor is the City required to answer questions or conduct research in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d); 32 Op. Atty Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977). The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii). Petitions to the Supervisor of Records This office was informed that the City did not receive a copy of Mr. Viglione's petition to Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) requesting an administrative appeal. Mr. Viglione is reminded that under the new requirements in the Public Records Law, when petitioning the Supervisor for an appeal, the requester shall provide a copy of such petition to the RAO associated with such petition. 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(h) (2017 ed.). For your review and to assist in responding to this appeal, a Public Records Division staff member provided you with a copy of Mr. Viglione's petition. In a March 8th discussion with you, a Public Records Division attorney inquired whether another City department might possess any other records responsive to Mr. Viglione's request. The Law Department has indicated it will confer with the City's Finance Department, and provide Mr. Viglione with another response regarding his requests. Accordingly, whereas the City has provided Mr. Viglione with records responsive to his request, and has asserted it will provide Mr. Viglione with a further response clarifying whether another City department has records responsive to Mr. Viglione's request, I will consider this appeal closed with the proviso that the supplemental response is provided to Mr. Viglione in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. 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 pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Joseph Viglione