Richard C. Bardi v. Malden, City of - Office of the City Solicitor (SPR 20181579)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords November 9, 2018 SPR18/1579 Kathryn M. Fallon, Esq. Office of the City Solicitor City of Malden Malden, MA 02148 Dear Attorney Fallon: I have received the petition of Attorney Richard Bardi of Richard C. Bardi & Associates, LLC appealing the response of the City of Malden (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on September 14, 2018, Attorney Bardi requested documents relating to a certain address. Previous Appeal This appeal is the subject of a previous appeal. See 8PR18/1418 Determination ofthe Supervisor of Records (October 9, 2018). In SPR18/1418 I ordered the City to provide Attorney Bardi with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. It is my understanding that the City provided Attorney Bardi a response on October 24, 2018. Unsatisfied with this response, Attorney Bardi petitioned this office and SPRl 8/1579 was opened as a result. Current Appeal In the City's October 24th response, you expressed to Attorney Bardi that the "leak detection report' at [an identified address] has already been responded to with the only document the City has in its possession, which was a photograph depicting the area." You then write, "if you are aware of something that you believe the City possess, as seemingly is implied in your extremely broadened appeal request, please be sure to ask for it and we will attempt to determine if such documents exist." In a response letter to the City dated October 25, 2018, Attorney Bardi writes, "[a]fter speaking with the water department, I understood that a 'report' existed with respect to this leak and therefore believed it appropriate to use this term in my prior public records request. I apologize for any confusion that the usage of this may have created." Attorney Bardi then 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

Thomas McGrath SPR18/1579 Page2 November 9, 2018 explains he is looking for "all such materials that encompass the period of January 1, 2017 to present, as the first quote received by the City of Malden from Prowler Water Conservation, LLC was dated August 2, 2017 and an enforcement notice was not sent until September 11, 2018." Specifically, he seeks, "any and all preliminary list(s) ofleaks supplied to the department by Prowler via online map report(s); report(s) of any critical leaks; survey(s) of water main leaks; full printed reports(s) with completed list of all leaks and their approximate sizes; chart(s ) ... " Please be advised, 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). Although the City claimed the only record in their possession responsive to Attorney Bardi's request is a photograph depicting the identified area, in light of Attorney Bardi's October 25th letter, it remains unclear if the City possesses any other records responsive to his request. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations without delay. 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: Richard Bardi, Esq.