Russell Seelig v. Springfield, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20190206)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords February 13, 2019 SPR19/206 Anthony I. Wilson, Esq. City of Springfield 3 6 Court Street Springfield, MA O1 103 Dear Attorney Wilson: I have received the petition of Russell Seelig appealing the response of the City of Springfield (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1 OA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Specifically, Mr. Seelig requested a "listing of all the valid sales of single family residence in Neighborhood 1283 for calendar year 2017 and a copy of the Comparable Sale Analysis for the FY19 valuations for each of them." Unsatisfied with the City's response, Mr. Seelig petitioned this office and as a result SPRl 9/206 was opened. Current Appeal In response to the request, the City provided Mr. Seelig two links to access records responsive to his request. The City states, "[p]ersonnel in the Assessor's Office have advised that the entire sales file is on the DSL gateway website ... All FY19 property record cards are available on the City's website." In his petition to this office Mr. Seelig states, "[t]he City has provided links to part of the request but not to all of it. The section that has not generated a response is 'a copy of the Comparable Sale Analysis for the FY19 valuations for each of them (referring to the valid sales in Neighborhood 1283 for calendar year 2017)." Mr. Seelig further expressed, "the Comparable Sales Analysis lists the Subject and probably five Comparable Sales for the Subject (There may be 15-20 pages in total)." Please be advised, in accordance with the Public Records Law, custodians are expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requesters in obtaining the desired information. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5). 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

Attorney Wilson SPR19/206 Page2 February 13, 2019 Although the City provided Mr. Seelig two links to access records responsive to his request, it is 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, 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: Russell Seelig