Todd Wallack v. Cambridge, City of - Law Department (SPR 20211893)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 12, 2021 SPR21/1893 Seah Levy, RAO Office of the City Clerk City of Cambridge 795 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 Dear Ms. Levy: I have received the petition of Todd Wallack of WBUR appealing the response of the City of Cambridge (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On July 12, 2021, Mr. Wallack requested: [d]ocuments showing the names of sworn officers within the Cambridge Police Department who were terminated for misconduct, agreed to resign or retire to resolve misconduct accusations, or resigned or retired with a pending internal affairs investigation since January 1, 2010. The City provided a response on July 27, 2021. Unsatisfied with the City’s response, Mr. Wallack petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR21/1893, was opened as a result. Fee estimate – municipalities A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first (two) 2 hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested unless the municipality has 20,000 people or less. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii). Where appropriate, municipalities may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 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

Seah Levy, RAO SPR21/1893 Page 2 August 11, 2021 per hour. Id. However, municipalities may charge more than $25 per hour if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The City’s July 27th response On July 27, 2021, the City responded to Mr. Wallack by providing him with a fee estimate explaining the calculation it used to arrive at the estimated cost of $300. The calculation is listed as follows: SEARCH AND COPYING TIME EXPENSES Hour Department Hourly Total 10 Police Department $25 $250 4 Police Department – $25 $100 Professional Standards Unit (2) Less hours deducted pursuant to ($50) 950 CMR 32.07(m)(1). TOTAL $300 Based on the City’s response, it is unclear why the City requires the amount of time listed above to produce the requested records. The City must provide further details about the tasks required to produce these records. The City must clarify these matters, including whether any segregation and redaction is required by law. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Wallack 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, ~ -_.·· o ./?A' ~~~-~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Todd Wallack, WBUR