Laura H. Ortiz v. Lowell, City of - City Solicitor (SPR 20210082)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 28, 2021 SPR21/0082 John Hucksam, Jr., Esq. Assistant City Solicitor City of Lowell Office of the City Solicitor Lowell, MA 01852 Dear Attorney Hucksam: I have received the petition of Laura Ortiz appealing the response of the City of Lowell Public Schools (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Ortiz requested: “DPW School Dude report and Microsoft Outlook report regarding requested repairs for all Lowell public schools from May 1, 2019 to September 13, 2019.” Ms. Ortiz requested that the report be provided to her in Excel/CSV format. On January 5, 2021 the City provided Ms. Ortiz with a copy of the requested report in an Adobe pdf format of an Excel spreadsheet. Ms. Ortiz petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) pertaining to the format that the report was provided in, and that the requested Microsoft Outlook records were not provided. In a conversation between Ms. Ortiz and a Senior Attorney in the Public Records Division, this office learned that the basis of her current appeal is that the City did not provide her with the responsive report in the original Excel format, as requested, and that the City did not provide her with the Microsoft Outlook records regarding the repairs to the City’s schools. In an email response the City asserted it, “provided Ms. Ortiz with a copy of the report in Adobe pdf format. We understand that Ms. Ortiz would like the report to be provided in the original Excel/CSV format and would also like the ‘Microsoft Outlook’ records be provided.” I find that it is unclear whether Ms. Ortiz can be provided with the records in the format she requested. The City must clarify these issues. 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

John Hucksam, Jr., Esq. SPR21/0082 Page 2 January 28, 2021 Preferred Format A records access officer must, to the extent feasible, provide public records to a requestor in electronic format unless the record is not available in electronic form or the requestor does not have the ability to receive or access the records in electronic format and if feasible, in the requestor’s preferred format. In the absence of a preferred format, the records must be provided in a searchable machine-readable form. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5)(d). In light of Ms. Ortiz’s appeal, I find the City must clarify whether the responsive report can be provided in the format that Ms. Ortiz requested, and whether the City has in its possession the Microsoft Outlook records pertaining to maintenance and repairs of the schools. I encourage the parties to work together to resolve the outstanding issues. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Ms. Ortiz with a response to the request, provided 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: Laura Ortiz