Brian DeLacey v. Malden City Clerk's Office (SPR 20210683)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 1, 2021 SPR21/0683 Gregory Lucey Office of the City Clerk City of Malden 110 Pleasant Street Malden, MA 02148 Dear Mr. Lucey: I have received the petition of Brian DeLacey appealing the response of the City of Malden Office of the City Clerk (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On December 8, 2020, Mr. DeLacey requested: “…email sent from, or received from any account used in the course of business by the City Council President, Jadeane Sica, from 11/1/20 to the day a response to this request is provided. The response should be in an industry standard digital format; such as EML., including header information, metadata, and all attachments generally available in the original source.” Prior appeal Mr. DeLacey informed this office that he did not receive a response within 10 business days, therefore, an appeal was opened. See SPR21/0026 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (January 20, 2021) (The City’s FOIA Direct Number 202-0276). In my January 20, 2021 determination, I ordered the City to provide Mr. DeLacey with a response to his request within 10 business days. The City provided records responsive to Mr. DeLacey’s request; however, on March 18, 2021, Mr. DeLacey petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) indicating that it was his belief that the City did not provide all the records responsive to his original request. In his March 18th petition, Mr. DeLacey asserts, “…there are a number of critical emails which appear to be missing from the records provided…I realize it is possible these records were randomly or inadvertently left off the media provided, or my extraction of those files from the media was somehow imperfect.” Mr. DeLacey indicated examples of emails that he believes may be in the possession of the City. The City was provided with a copy of Mr. DeLacey’s 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 SPR21/0683 Page 2 April 1, 2021 appeal file, including his March 18th petition to the Supervisor, to enable the City to respond accordingly. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, a Senior Attorney in the Public Records Division was informed that the City will conduct another diligent search for responsive emails and provide any additional emails in the City’s possession that are responsive to Mr. DeLacey’s request. It is my understanding that the City will provide another response relative to Mr. DeLacey’s request. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. DeLacey 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: Brian DeLacey