Karen Tatro v. North Adams, City of (SPR 20241587)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records June 10, 2024 SPR24/1587 Stacy Abuisi Records Officer City of North Adams 10 Main Street North Adams, MA 01247 Dear Ms. Abuisi: I have received the petition of Karen Tatro appealing the response of the City of North Adams (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 2, 2024, Ms. Tatro requested the following: [1.] All and any communications to or from [a named individual]’s City Provided Cell phone, including text messages, emails and social media accounts for the period January 1, 2023 through January 1, 2024. [2.] All and any communications to or from [a named individual], at [a specified email address] for the period of January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023. [3.] [a]ll and any communications to or from [a named individual], from all other elected city councilors for the period of January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023. [4.] [a]ny and all communications to or from [a named individual’s] City issued cell phone, including text messages, emails, and social media accounts for the period January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022. Previous Appeals This request was the subject of previous appeals. See SPR24/0144; SPR24/0149; SPR24/0150; and SPR24/0151 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (January 31, 2024); SPR24/1163 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (May 1, 2024); and SPR24/1164; SPR24/1165; and SPR24/1167 Determinations of the Supervisor of Records (May 2, 2024). In my May 1 and 2, 2024 determinations, I found that the City had not demonstrated that its January 19, 2024 response complied with G. L. c. 66, § 10(b) and, therefore, may not charge a fee for public records responsive to the request. The City provided a response on May 15, 2024. 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

Stacy Abuisi SPR24/1587 Page 2 June 10, 2024 Unsatisfied with the response, Ms. Tatro petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/1587, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates – 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 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). The City’s May 15th Response In its May 15, 2024 response, the City stated, “the City suggested… modifications to [Ms. Tatro] in a phone call on January 3, 2024 and our correspondence to [her] dated January 19, 2024 and March 7, 2024. In an attempt to resolve this matter, the City offers to provide the requested emails at no cost if [Ms. Tatro] is able to identify a time period not in excess of 2 months for each of the four (4) records requests. Please be advised that [the City] considers [Ms. Tatro’s] existing requests to be unreasonable and unnecessarily burdensome and is considering its options with respect to an appeal of the… decision of the Secretary of the Commonwealth with respect to fees.” G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) provides that “[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business days under subsection (b).” Where I previously found that the City had not met its burden to demonstrate that its fee estimate response was in compliance with G. L. c. 66, § 10(b), the City may not charge a fee for public records under G. L. c. 66, § 10(e).

Stacy Abuisi SPR24/1587 Page 3 June 10, 2024 In light of the City’s suggestion to modify the request, this office encourages both parties to communicate further to enable the City to provide the requested records if Ms. Tatro wishes to modify her request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii) (a municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Ms. Tatro with a response to her request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Karen Tatro