Amy Friedman v. Malden, City of (SPR 20210667)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 31, 2021 SPR21/0667 Gregory Lucey City Clerk City of Malden 215 Pleasant Street Malden, MA 02148 Dear Mr. Lucey: I have received the petition of Bruce Friedman appealing the response 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, on March 2, 2021, Mr. Friedman requested: “provide all email from the Clerk for the [City] (Mr. Lucey) email account for the dates January 1, 2020 through [the date of the request] which includes ‘FOIA’ and/or ‘Public Record’” as a subject and/or is in the body of the email and/or is included in an attachment to an email. This request is for any email, sent or received, all calendar entries, and any electronic notes maintained in the email system. This request specifically seeks the production of the responsive records to be delivered electronically in the same format which they are regularly maintained, and must include all associated metadata. This request specifically excludes any responsive documents which are subject to attorney-client privilege.” In a March 17, 2021 letter, the City provided Mr. Friedman with a response to his March 2nd request, the City’s Request No. 2021-0076. In its March 17th response, the City provided a fee estimate to provide responsive records. The City indicates that 4,545 records were compiled through a search of Mr. Friedman’s request terms. To complete the review and production of Mr. Friedman’s requests, every page compiled must be reviewed in order to determine if it is responsive to Mr. Friedman’s request, given the broad nature of Mr. Friedman’s search terms and the timeframe identified in the request. Due to the fee estimate/response to the request, on March 18, 2021, Mr. Friedman petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. In his petition, Mr. Friedman asserted, “[t]he RAO had until the COB on Tuesday, March 16, 2021 to respond 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

Gregory Lucey SPR21/0667 Page 2 March 31, 2021 per G. L. c. 66, §10(b), G. L. c. 66, §10(e) and/or 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2)(c). The City failed to timely respond.” As a result, this appeal was opened. Fees - Timeliness of response If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. However, it is unclear whether the City provided Mr. Friedman with a written response within ten (10) business days from his March 2, 2021 request. The City is advised that under the Public Records Law, “[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business days in compliance with G. L. c. 66 §10(e) and 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2)(c). I find that the City clarify whether it responded within 10 business days following the receipt of Mr. Friedman’s request. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Friedman with a response to the request, 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: Gregory Lucey