Collin Dias v. Fall River, City of - Office of the Corporation Counsel (SPR 20180434)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords April 4, 2018 SPR18/434 Joseph I. Macy, Esq. Corporation Counsel City of Fall River One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722 Dear Attorney Macy: I have received your petition on behalf of the City of Fall River (City) seeking relief from its obligation to produce responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the City furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). On March 28, 2018, the City submitted petitions related to twelve requests made by Collin Dias. You explain that "Collin Dias has sent twelve (12) different Public Records Requests between Friday, March 23 and Monday, March 26." It should also be noted that Mr. Dias recently submitted appeals to this office, some of which remain pending. See SPRl 8/376-379, SPR18/407-408. Petitions for an extension of time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. 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

Joseph I. Macy, Esq. SPR18/434 Page 2 April 4, 2018 G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requester within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4 )(b ). Current petition In its March 28th correspondence, the City describes each of the twelve requests and asserts "this is another example of a series of requests from the same requestor which are frivolous." You also indicate that the "City believes Mr. Dias' s contemporaneous requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity. Therefore, the City of Fall River respectfully requests a decision relieving the City of Fall River of its obligation to provide records based on the good cause shown above." It should be noted that in his appeal petitions, Mr. Dias notes "I am a constituent for Southcoast media and my request is relayed to news gathering purposes and informing the public. This information is not being sought for commercial purposes." Based on the information provided in the March 28th correspondence, I find that the City has not met its burden to demonstrate the requests are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass. The City also has not established how these requests, which pertain to records related to the mayor, the mayor's chief of staff, open meeting law complaints, the use of the "City van," people approved to plow snow for the City, discussion of pay cuts, and a FBI investigation, are "not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity," as required by G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). Conclusion The City must provide responses to Mr. Dias in accordance with G. L. c. 66, § lO(b). Mr. Dias may appeal the substantive nature of the City's responses within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Collin Dias