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Tom Benavides v. Waltham, City of - Law Department (SPR 20242030)
Massachusetts Public Records Appeal · Petitioner won — agency ordered to respond · Filed 07-16-2024
ClosedAppealPetitioner Won
SPR 20242030 is a Massachusetts Public Records Law appeal filed by Tom Benavides concerning records held by Waltham, City of - Law Department, opened 07-16-2024. Type: Appeal. Status: Closed. Supervisor of Public Records determination: Petitioner won — agency ordered to respond.
Case Details
- Case Number
- 20242030
- Case Type
- Appeal
- Case Subtype
- Initial
- Status
- Closed
- Requester
- Tom Benavides
- Custodian
- Waltham, City of - Law Department
- Date Opened
- 07-16-2024
- Date Closed
- 07-26-2024
PDF Document
Extracted Text (searchable & copyable)
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records July 26, 2024 SPR24/2030 Karen Rowland Legal Secretary City of Waltham – Law Department 119 School Street Waltham, MA 02451 Dear Ms. Rowland: I have received the petition of Tom Benavides appealing the response of the City of Waltham (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On June 3, 2024, Mr. Benavides requested the following: The … [City] has an Excel spreadsheet which serves as a compliance model for their MBTA Communities Act overlay district, which they will submit to the state for pre-approval. Would you please share that compliance model with me? Either a printout of each page of the spreadsheet, or an electronic copy of the Excel document, would be sufficient. The City responded on June 14, 2024, and provided the responsive record. Mr. Benavides responded stating, “[t]his copy is illegible due to poor formatting. Is there a prohibition against sharing documents in a form other than PDF? If you are able to share a copy of the compliance models in excel format that would be an ideal solution.” The City responded further on June 20, 2024 and July 1, 2024. Unsatisfied with the City’s responses, Mr. Benavides petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/2030, was opened as a result. Subsequently, I learned that the City provided Mr. Benavides with a response on July 25, 2024. Where this appeal was opened as a result of the City’s June 20th and July 1st responses, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Mr. Benavides may appeal the substantive nature of the City’s July 25th response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). 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 Karen Rowland SPR24/2030 Page 2 July 26, 2024 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Tom Benavides