Collin Dias v. Fall River, City of - Office of the Corporation Counsel (SPR 20211960)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 4, 2021 SPR21/1960 Mr. Seth Aitken, Esq. City of Fall River 1 Government Center Fall River, MA 02722 Dear Attorney Aitken: I have received your petition on behalf of the City of Fall River (City) seeking permission to charge for time spent segregating or redacting responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). As required by law, it is my understanding that the City furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor, Mr. Collin Dias. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). On July 26, 2021, Mr. Dias requested “[a]ll text messages to and from Mayor Paul Coogan’s phone number…” containing a specified list of keywords. Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that Mr. Dias agreed to modify his request. In a letter to the City dated August 3, 2021, Mr. Dias states that he “believe[s] this petition is no longer necessary.” The City responded on August 3, 2021 stating, “please consider [the] request for fee extension withdrawn.” Conclusion In light of the August 3, 2021 letter, I find it unnecessary to opine on the City’s fee petition. Further, this office encourages Mr. Dias and the City to continue to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii). Sincerely, ,/J .A • ~ ~ - ~~· 0 ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Collin Dias 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