Derek E. Rougeau v. North Adams, City of (SPR 20192306)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division

Rebecca S, Murray Supervisor of Records

November 25, 2019 SPR19/2306

Michael J, Canales

City of North Adams

10 Main Street, Room 204 North Adams, MA 02147

Dear Mr. Canales:

I have received the petition of Derek E. Rougeau appealing the nonresponse of the City of North Adams (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.LR. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Rougeau requested records regarding “a complete list of all electrical code violations noted by the North Adams wire inspector for the years: 2017, 2018, and 2019... including the date and type of violation for each instance and the date of and type of actions taken and the inspector involved with each violation.”

_ Claiming the requested fee was paid but no response has yet to be received from the City, Mr. Rougeau petitioned this office and this appeal was opened as a result.

Current Appeal

In an email dated on November 15, 2019, the City responded, “I did respond to the ‘request with the cost to proceed, check was received...We have done our due diligence and attached are the violations Mr. Rougeau requested.”

In response to the documents the City has found within their possession, Mr. Rougeau responded in an email dated on November 15, 2019, “I find it very hard to believe that the City

of North Adams wire inspector has only noted four (4) incidences of electrical code violations since 2016,” .

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

Michael J. Canales SPR19/2306 Page 2 November 25, 2019

Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, I

learned that the City responded to Mr. Rougeau’s request with a response sent on November 15, 2019,

Records in Existence

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, § 10(a)(ii). In light of the issues raised in Mr. Rougeau’s appeal regarding the existence of responsive records, I find it is unclear whether additional records exist.

Conclusion

Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Rougeau with a response provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten (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,

Ki becca Muay _

Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records

cc: Mr. Derek Rougeau