Carol Melle v. Malden City Clerk's Office (SPR 20200725)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records May 18, 2020 SPR20/0725 Greg Lucey City Clerk City of Malden 110 Pleasant Street Malden, MA 02148 Dear Mr. Lucey: I have received the petition of Carol Melle, of the Oak Grove Improvement Association, Inc, appealing the nonresponse of the City of Malden (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Melle requested the following documents related to the City’s Community Preservation Committee: 1. “Friends of Oak Grove Inc. Full CPC FY2020 Application with Date and Timestamp: Substantiate date and time that the Friends of Oak Grove, Inc. (also known as “FOOGI”) submitted their full CPC Application.” 2. “CPC Letter to FOOGI requesting additional information with Date and Timestamp: This letter follows-up with further questions and requests from the CPC for information after the CPC’s initial review of FOOGI’s application in December 2019.” 3. “FOOGI’s UPDATES DUE 3/3/20 with Date and Timestamp: This information is in response to the CPC’s letter of request. (See item #2 above).” 4. “Any and all supporting documentation submitted by FOOGI with Date and Timestamp relevant to their CPC Application not included in the requested documentation above.” Claiming to not yet have received a response, Ms. Melle petitioned this office and this appeal was opened as a result. 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

Greg Lucey SPR20/0725 Page 2 May 18, 2020 The City’s Response The City provided a response to Ms. Melle’s request dated May 18th. In its response, the City asserts “[p]lease find attached document with regards to PRR 2020-0070, SPR/20/0725. The CPC is asking for specifics for item #4 (supporting documentation submitted by FOOGI with date and time stamp relevant to their CPC Application not included in the requested documentation above.” Conclusion Whereas the basis of this appeal was opened as a result of the City’s lack of response to Ms. Melle’s request, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Ms. Melle may appeal the substantive nature of the City’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). In regards to part 4 of Ms. Melle’s request, this office encourages Ms. Melle and the City to continue to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, §10(b)(vii) (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 agency to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Carol Melle