Maureen Flynn v. Chelsea, City of (SPR 20230208)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records February 15, 2023 SPR23/0208 Jessica C. Morales Paralegal City of Chelsea 500 Broadway, Room 307 Chelsea, MA 02150 Dear Ms. Morales: I have received the petition of Maureen Flynn appealing the response of the City of Chelsea (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 4, 2023, Ms. Flynn requested, “…public records 2019-present relating to carnivals in the city of Chelsea by Fiesta Shows aka Dean & Flynn & various other names. Specifically… records for police details or other services by the police department to include requests, invoices and payment information.” The City provided responses on January 19, 2023 and January 27, 2023. Unsatisfied with the responses, Ms. Flynn petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR23/0208, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates 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 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 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

Jessica C. Morales SPR23/0208 Page 2 February 15, 2023 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). Petitions relating to fees must be submitted to the Supervisor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). The City’s January Fee Estimate In its January 19, 2023 response, the City provided a fee estimate of $25.00. In its January 19th response, the City advised that it “… will request copies of the invoices as outlined in the document sent to you.” In its January 27, 2022 response the City advised, “[w]e have estimated it will take 2 hours since we have to go through two years of paper records…” Current appeal In her appeal, Ms. Flynn states, “… I have repeatedly requested payment records and was told those would be $25.00. I replied that it does not seem possible in 2023 that it would take over two hours to locate and email those records.” Although the City has estimated that the process of compiling, reviewing, and preparing requested records for production requires two hours, it is not clear from the City’s estimate how much time is allocated to search, and how much time is allocated for segregation and/or redaction of the records. As such, the City must provide further details regarding its fee estimate. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Further, The City’s fee estimate lacks confirmation that the rate of $25 per hour is of the lowest paid employee who is capable of performing the task(s). It is additionally uncertain whether the first two hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records has been factored into the fee estimate. Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first two 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). For the reasons discussed above, I find the City must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee assessed in its January 27th estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Ms. Flynn 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.

Jessica C. Morales SPR23/0208 Page 3 February 15, 2023 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Maureen Flynn