Collin Dias v. Fall River, City of - Office of the Corporation Counsel (SPR 20180864)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records June 26, 2018 SPRlS/864 Joseph I. Macy, Esq. Corporation Counsel City of Fall River One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722 Dear Attorney Macy: I have received the petition of Collin Dias appealing the response of the City of Fall River (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on May 26, 2018, Mr. Dias requested "[a]ny calendar, agenda, schedule possessed and/ or used by Mayor Jasiel Correia II." The City responded on June 12, 2018 with a fee estimate of $550.00 to produce records. Fee estimates A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d ). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for black and white copies for both single and double-sided copies of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d )(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first two hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested unless the municipality has 20,000 people or less. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii). Where appropriate, municipalities may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. However, municipalities may charge more than $25 per hour if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § IO(d)(iv). 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. SPR18/864 Page 2 June 26, 2018 A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d )(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d )(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4 ). In its June lih fee estimate the City indicates "the Mayor's Office would need at a minimum, twenty-four (24) hours to complete the broad scope and nature of your request. You did not indicate a timeframe." You also explain that "[a]t this time, the Mayor's office would be able to provide the Mayors calendar from 2017 to present (June 11, 2018). Each day from January 1, 201 7 to June 11, 2018 would need to be examined and printed per your request. The estimated time for this to be completed would be approximately twenty-four (24) hours at $25 per hour. As a municipality with a population of more than 20,000, the municipality may not charge for the first two hours. The fee to perform said search is $550.00 (22 hours at $25)." You further note that there would be an additional paper cost of $.05 a page. Mr. Dias objects to the amount of hours needed to comply with the request and also notes "the response failed to mention they would provide me with all of the agenda. There was no mention of what was recorded down on the Mayors calendar for future dates, just from January 1st 201 7 to June 11th. Per my request, I would also want to see what was recorded down on the Mayors calendar for future dates as well." With respect to the amount of hours needed to comply with the request, the City has not met its burden to show why twenty four hours are needed to produce responsive records. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d). Further, it is unclear whether segregation and/or redaction ofresponsive records is required by law. See G. L. c. 66, § IO(d)(iii) (a fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv)). In addressing Mr. Dias's assertion that "I would also want to see what was recorded down on the Mayors calendar for future dates as well," please note that the duty to comply with requests for records extends only to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a )(ii). Mr. Dias is encouraged to clarify what is meant by "agenda" in his request. Mr. Dias also requests "a waiver of all fees in regards to this request because the initial response was not given to me in 10 business days." It should be noted that Mr. Dias submitted 111 his request on Saturday, May 26 • The next business day was Tuesday, May 29, 2018 because City offices were closed on Monday, May 28, 2018 for Memorial Day. Therefore, the City's June li 11 response was made within 10 business days of Mr. Dias's May 26th request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(e); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(3). Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide a response to Mr. Dias in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten business days. A copy of

Joseph I. Macy, Esq. SPR18/864 Page 3 June 26, 2018 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. Mr. Dias and the City are encouraged to maintain a professional working relationship to ensure that public records requests are clear and concise, and that records are produced efficiently and affordably. It should be noted that the request must reasonably describe the record being sought by including, for example, applicable time periods or topics. G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(i). Further, a municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(vii). . Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Collin Dias