Commonwealth Transparency v. Medford, City of (SPR 20250447)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records February 27, 2025 SPR25/0447 Janice Spencer Office Manager City of Medford 85 George P. Hassett Drive Medford, MA 02155 Dear Ms. Spencer: I have received the petition of Commonwealth Transparency (“requestor”) appealing the response of the City of Medford (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 3, 2025, the requestor sought: During the explicit timeframe October 20, 2024 through December 10, 2024 only; Any letter, electronic communication, and/or message including but not limited to written documents, emails (Electronic mail), text messages, collaboration messages from platforms like teams, WhatsApp, and Git; Where the subject matter is The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Emergency Shelter Policy, specifically, but not limited to Statement(s) on ‘Changes to the State’s Emergency Shelter Policy’; This request seeks records which may be, but are not limited to meeting agendas or minutes; This request seeks records which may be, but are not limited to correspondence sent to or received from Governor Maura Healy; This request seeks records which may be, but are not limited to correspondence sent to or received from elected officials or representatives of any of the following municipalities: Acton, Boxborough, Andover, Barnstable, Bedford, Beverly, Boston, Brewster, Bridgewater, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Easthampton, Everett, Franklin, Gloucester, Greenfield, Haverhill, Lawrence, Leominster, Littleton, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Newton, Northampton, Orleans, Pittsfield, Rockport, Salem, Somerville, Southbridge, Springfield, Wakefield, Waltham, Watertown, Wilbraham, Wilmington, and Worcester[.] 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

Janice Spencer SPR25/0447 Page 2 February 27, 2025 The City responded on February 14, 2025, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the City’s response, the requestor petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/0447, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates – Municipalities If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. 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 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 under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The City’s February 14th Response In its February 14, 2025 response, the City provided a fee estimate of $37.50 and stated the following: Based on the City’s initial diligent work on this request, it anticipates that it has records responsive to your request. Given the volume of the request, as permitted by law, you will be charged for employee search charged at the hourly rate of the lowest paid person capable of compiling, segregating, redacting, and reproducing responsive records, in accordance with 950 CMR 32.07(2)(i). The employee time shall not exceed $25.00 per hour, unless otherwise authorized by the Supervisor of Records. Moreover, because the City has more than 20,000 residents, pursuant to the last decennial U.S. Census, you will not be charged for the first two hours of work associated with this request.

Janice Spencer SPR25/0447 Page 3 February 27, 2025 Estimate The good faith estimate to search for and locate such materials in response to this request is 3.5 hours, which will be conducted by the City’s IT staff (for electronic searches) and staff at the Mayor’s Office. You will not be charged for the first two hours of work given Medford’s population under the Public Records Law. The total estimate to search for and locate the voluminous hard copy and paper records for 1.5 hours as detailed above is $37.50 (at the reduced $25/hour rate). To receive the records, please submit payment to this office made out to the City of Medford, and the necessary work will be conducted, subject to any withholding or redactions under the Public Records Law. Please note that the actual cost of producing the records may vary once the City begins preparing the records for response. At this time, it is anticipated that the City will be able to produce non-exempt records electronically. Please be advised, however, that if there are any responsive records that do not exist in electronic format, and if there are any documents that may only be redacted manually and not electronically (and thus must be printed prior to redaction), copying charges will apply at the rate of $.05 per page. Insofar as there are any records that need to be transferred to a USB drive, you will also be charged for the cost of the drive as permitted by law. Upon receipt of your payment in the amount of $37.50 made payable to the City of Medford, the City will begin the work necessary to search, segregate, and redact (where appropriate) the documents you have requested. 950 CMR 32.06(2)(f). Please note that pursuant to 950 CMR 32.06(2)(f), you will not be provided records until all fees are paid. The City will provide a further basis if any records are withheld or redacted in compliance with the Public Records Law, as noted above. Please note that the City anticipates that it may need the maximum amount of time permitted by law to respond to the request upon receiving payment in light of its other municipal responsibilities. Thus, the City will provide any nonexempt responsive records within fifteen (15) business days of receipt of payment. G.L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). The City will provide a basis, if any, for any redactions or withholding under the Public Records Law after final review of the records located, including under Exemption (e) of the Public Records Law. If you wish to narrow or streamline your request either in time frame or in scope, please contact me and the City may be able to more efficiently respond. After search, no responsive records were found by the City Clerk’s Office. Current Appeal In the appeal petition, the requestor states, “Medford has failed to state with specificity why it will require 3.5 hours to perform search, segregation and redaction. Medford has failed to state with specificity what legal exemptions could be claimed to charge for segregation and/or redaction.”

Janice Spencer SPR25/0447 Page 4 February 27, 2025 Reasonableness of the fee estimate Where the City provided a response within 10 business days, it is necessary to review the reasonableness of the City’s fee estimate. Although the City has estimated that it will take 3.5 hours to produce responsive records, 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. Additionally, it is unclear the number of minutes that the City must spend per page to segregate or redact the responsive records. The City must provide additional information regarding the tasks involved in producing these records. Accordingly, 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, based on the City’s response, I find the City must clarify if any redactions will be required by law, and state the applicable statutes, if any. Pursuant to the Public Records Law, a fee may 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)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The City must clarify this. I encourage the requestor and the City to communicate further in order to facilitate producing records efficiently and affordably. The requestor may wish to narrow the parameters or include applicable factors to enable the search to be processed. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(i). The City must use its knowledge of the records to facilitate providing any responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(vii) (an agency or 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 agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide the requestor with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) 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: Commonwealth Transparency