Joseph Cecchi v. Bunker Hill Community College (SPR 20181612)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervrsor of Records November 19 ,201 8 SPRl811612 Kali Cofield Bunker Hill Community College 250 New Rutherford Boston, MA 02129 Dear Kali Cofield: I have received the petition of Joseph Cecchi appealing the response of Bunker Hill Community College (College) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 IOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Cecchi requested "[elmail correspondence between Mr. Kevin Hanley and following AFSCME Local 10 67 and AFSCME Council 93 members: Sheila Kearns, Thomasine (Thommie) Corbett, Mark Bernard, Charles Owen, Gordon Blaquiere, Jim Durkin, Diane Byrnes and Nadine Kennedy. The dates of the emails would be from January 3 1, 2017 to February 7, 2017, as well as October 8,2018 to October 12, 201 8." The College provided a fee estimate on October 3 1,2018 that seeks $600.00 for the provision of responsive records. Tlze 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, 5 10A(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(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, 5 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, 5 10(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 51 1 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(b)(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

Kali Cofield Page 2 November 19,201 8 If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. Fee estimates An agency 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, 5 1O (d). The fees must reflect a. the actual cost of complying with a particular request. 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, 5 10(d)(i). Agencies may not assess a fee for the first 4 hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested. G. L. c. 66, 5 1O (d)(ii). Where appropriate, agencies 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 Id. more than $25 per hour. However, agencies 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, 5 lO(d)(iv). 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, 5 lO(d)(iv). G. L. c. 66, 5 10(d)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Appeal In his appeal petition Mr. Cecchi notes that the College initially provided a fee estimate of $1200.00 for the production of records. Mr. Cecchi subsequently modified his request and the College provided a $600.00 fee estimate. This estimate is based on 24 hours of work beyond the initial 4 hours required to be waived, at a rate of $25.00 per hour. Mr. Cecchi indicates "I informed Bunker Hill Community College that I am not looking for any emails that are consider protected information; PII, FERPA or etc. With this all being said I aslted them to please provide a new fair and proper estimate, which was not done." The College's fee estimate must provide clarity on how it arrived at the $600 fee. It is unclear why the College requires 24 hours of time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the responsive records. See G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(d)(ii). Further, to the best of my knowledge the College has not submiited a fee petition under G. L. c. 66, 5 10(d)(iv), nor has it established whether the redactions would be required by law. See G. L. c. 66, 5 10(d)(ii) (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, 5 1O (d)(iv)). The College must clarify this matter. This office encourages both parties to continue communicate further to enable the College to provide a more refined search for Mr. Cecchi which could result in the reduction of

Kali Cofield Page 3 November 19,201 8 fees. See G. L. c. 66, 9 1O (b)(vii) (an agency 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). Conclusion Accordingly, the College is ordered to provide Mr. Cecchi with a revised fee estimate in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 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 Cecchi