Framingham Reporter v. Wellesley, Town of (SPR 20220315)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 15, 2022 SPR22/0315 Cynthia Mahr Records Access Officer Town of Wellesley 525 Washington Street Wellesley, MA 02482 Dear Ms. Mahr: I have received the petition of Framingham Reporter appealing the response of the Town of Wellesley (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On November 17, 2021, Framingham Reporter requested: [1] All records provided to [a named individual] in response to [a certain] public records request[;] [2] All communications between [a named individual] and any entity, employee, or elected representative of [the Town] since January 1, 2018, including but not limited to communications regarding [a named individual, and;] [3] Any and all other public records requests, responsive records, and communications made by or provided to [a named individual] since January 1, 2018. The Town provided a response on December 2, 2021. Previous Appeal The records sought are the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR21/3363 Supervisor of Records Determination (January 7, 2022). There, I found the basis of Framingham Reporter’s appeal unclear. On January 24, 2022, Framingham Reporter clarified the basis of its appeal and this appeal, SPR22/0315, 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

Cynthia Mahr SPR22/0315 Page 2 February 15, 2022 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 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). Current Appeal On January 24, 2022, Framingham Reporter stated: To be clear, my appeal regards the fee estimate that was not provided until five (5) days after the ten (10) business day deadline. Here is the chronology day by day: [November 19, 2021 is] Day 1 of 10 business day window…[December 2, 2021 is] Day 9 of 10 business day window. Some responsive records provided. But response was not compliant with the public records law (records not in machine readable format), and NO FEE ESTIMATE PROVIDED TO DATE…[December 8, 2021 is] Day 13 of 10 business day window. Town [finally] provides a fee estimate for the remainder of the responsive records. In an email from the Town’s legal counsel on January 6, 2022, the Town demonstrated that a response and a copy of a fee petition was sent to Framingham Reporter on December 2, 2021. Conclusion In compliance with the Public Records Law, the Supervisor of Records may only issue determinations where a violation of G. L. c. 66, § 10 has occurred. G. L. c. 66, § 10A(a). Given that no violation of G. L. c. 66, § 10 has been asserted by Framingham Reporter in its appeal petition, I am unable to issue a determination at this time.

Cynthia Mahr SPR22/0315 Page 3 February 15, 2022 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Framingham Reporter