Charles Teague v. Cambridge, City of - Office of the City Clerk (SPR 20233061)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records January 4, 2024 SPR23/3061 Seah Levy City of Cambridge Office of the City Solicitor 795 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 Dear Ms. Levy: I have received the petition of Charles Teague appealing the response of the City of Cambridge (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On December 1, 2023, Mr. Teague requested the following: Complete sets of architectural-style drawings, “progress plots”, or “plan sets” (“PLANS”) from VENDORS delivered to the City of Cambridge (“CITY”) and/or STAFF from January 1, 2022 to the present day. In particular: [1.] The complete and full PLANS with 50 sheets, more or less, of so-called and so-titled as “LANDSCAPE PLANS” for the “Project” titled as “ALEWIFE LINEAR PARK RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT”. . . . [2.] All so-called “Progress Plots” (PP) including all drafts of said PP titled as “Project ALEWIFE LINEAR PARK RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT”. . . . [3.] All land surveys (“SURVEYS”) by [a specified vendor] titled as (more or less) “ADDRESS: LINEAR PARK, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.” and “DRAWING NAME: EXISTING CONDITIONS PLAN” including all drafts of said SURVEYS. [4.] All SURVEYS annotated and otherwise “marked-up” by STAFF delivered from the CITY to VENDORS. The City responded on December 15, 2023, citing Exemption (d) of the Public Records Law for withholding records responsive to Parts 1 and 2 of the request, providing records responsive to Part 3, and indicating the City does not possess records responsive to Part 4 of the request. See G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(d). Unsatisfied with the City’s response, Mr. Teague appealed, and this case 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

Seah Levy SPR23/3061 Page 2 January 4, 2024 Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, based on a telephone conversation between this office and the City on December 20, and December 29, 2023, I understand that the City intends to provide a supplemental response to Mr. Teague. Accordingly, said response must be provided in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its regulations within ten business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. If issues remain unresolved, Mr. Teague may appeal the substantive nature of the City’s supplemental response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Charles Teague Paul S. Kawai, Esq.