Jeanne L. Holmes-Kireilis v. Brockton, City of - Law Department (SPR 20210321)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 19, 2021 SPR21/0321 Allison M. Cogliano, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor Law Department City of Brockton 45 School Street Brockton, MA 02301 Dear Attorney Cogliano: I have received the petition of Attorney Jeanne Holmes-Kireilis appealing the response of the City of Brockton (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On November 21, 2020, Attorney Holmes-Kireilis requested “[a]ny and all records, including communications, either electronic or hard copy, account data, minutes, contracts, reports, etc. pertaining to the FY21 Real Estate Tax Assessment/Reassessment, including but not limited to the procurement process of the contract for the FY21 assessment and all related records, the contract for the FY21 assessment/reassessment, all of the data provided to the contractor, all of the contractor's work done as part of the contract, all information the contractor provided to the city relating to the assessment/reassessment, the cost of the contract, the payment(s) to the contractor, the name and contact information for the contractor as well as all contractor staff that worked on the FY21 assessment/reassessment, the comprehensive reassessment of all classes of property in the city, the proposed 2021 property valuations, all information provided to city councilors regarding the FY21 tax assessment/reassessment, all the inquiries regarding the FY21 tax assessment/reassessment since January 1, 2020 to the present, all information regarding the last FY when the city did a full assessment of all the property in the city, including an actual in person review of all the property as part of the reassessment, and copy of the last in person assessment/reassessment for all property in the city.” The City provided a response on December 8, 2020, which included responsive records. Unsatisfied with the City’s response, Attorney Holmes-Kireilis petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR21/0321, 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

Allison M. Cogliano, Esq. SPR21/0321 Page 2 February 19, 2021 The City’s December 8th response In its December 8th response, the City indicates, “[i]t is this office’s belief that the Assessor’s Office has most of the responsive documents to your request. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 and quarantine requirements, the Assessor’s Office was closed beginning on December 2, 2020 and remains closed. While a records access officer must respond to a request for public records within 10 business days, a business day does not include a weekday where a custodian’s office is unexpectedly closed…[a]s a result, only five business days have passed since your request was received. The sixth business day will not be counted until the Assessor’s Office’s staff returns.” The City states “…the Assessor’s Office was able to provide the following documents…” listing six (6) documents provided to Attorney Holmes-Kireilis. The City further indicates “[p]lease note, your request is for ‘any and all records…pertaining to the FY21 Real Estate Tax Assessment/Reassessment [.]’ This language does not provide a reasonable description of the requested records and fails to identify documents with sufficient particularity. As a result, the time and cost of fulfilling your public records request may be high. In order to avoid this, please refer to the documents provided within to narrow and/or modify the scope of your request.” In her appeal, Attorney Holmes-Kireilis states “I am appealing the city’s response and lack of response as well as the unreasonable and excessive fees.” Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, the City provided Attorney Holmes-Kireilis with a response on February 17, 2021, stating, “[i]n that response, dated December 8, 2020, I invited you to modify your request. This was so the department could decide whether or not a fee needed to be assessed in order to provide you with the documents you sought. Unfortunately, I did not hear from you with regards to your willingness to modify your original request and, therefore, a fee was not assessed.” Based on the foregoing, it is unclear what the basis of Attorney Holmes-Kireilis’s appeal is. Attorney Holmes- Kireilis is advised that all petitions for appeal “shall specifically describe the nature of the requestor’s objections to the response or failure to timely respond.” 950 C.M.R. 32.08(l) (f).

Allison M. Cogliano, Esq. SPR21/0321 Page 3 February 19, 2021 Conclusion This office encourages Attorney Holmes-Kireilis and the City to continue to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. In light of the above, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Jeanne Holmes-Kireilis, Esq.