William Rodgers II v. Methuen, City of - City Clerk (SPR 20250844)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records April 7, 2025 SPR25/0844 Anne Drouin City Clerk City of Methuen 41 Pleasant Street, Room 112 Methuen, MA 01844 Dear Ms. Drouin: I have received the petition of William Rodgers II appealing the response of the City of Methuen (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 27, 2025, Mr. Rodgers requested: [1] [A]ll public records and all police reports that refer to contract (C-25-60) or Alliance Detective and Security Service Inc. [2] All correspondence and communications, both electronic or paper copies, to include but not be limited to any communications or documents referring to contract (C-25-60) or Alliance Detective and Security Service Inc. or any of its agents or between any City elected or appointed individuals, or any members of the Presentation of Mary Academy. This also included all bids, bid submissions, contracts, executive session minutes and votes as they refer to this contract. [3] Copies of any text messages, facsimilia [sic], notes, memos, letters, chat messages and the like that mention or are related to contract (C-25-60) or Alliance Detective and Security Service Inc, or any of its agents. The City responded on March 21, 2025, providing records responsive to the request. Unsatisfied with the City’s response and claiming the City possesses additional responsive records, Mr. Rodgers appealed, and this case, SPR25/0844, was opened as a result. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). “Public records” is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical 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

Anne Drouin SPR25/0844 Page 2 April 7, 2025 form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any agency or municipality of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Att’y for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. 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. The City’s March 21st response In its March 21, 2025 response, the City provided records responsive to the request. Current Appeal In his appeal to this office, Mr. Rodgers states: I have reviewed all the documents and I believe some documents are missing. The below documents fall within this request as outlined above and were not provided. [1] There are no Executive Session minutes provided and there were no exemptions claimed. Also there were no documents provided to show the vote on this contract which had to occurred prior to the contract being issued [sic]. It is clear from the City Council meeting video that the Council, Mayor and Police Chief entered Executive Session ‘to discuss and vote on the contract’. Please provide all these documents and audio recordings. [2] There are no vendor payment documents provided. I attempted to retrieve them from the City’s Transparency website and when you choose Alliance Detectives and Security Services Agency as a vendor the error message shows ‘insufficient data available’. This does not happen with other vendors. I ask that the payments and all related documents be provided as requested in the initial request. [3] There were not any documents provided to show the posting of the Executive Session for this contract. As this is a legal requirement and a document that should be in your possession it should have been included. [P]lease send all Council documents that relate to this contract as previously requested. [4] There are no correspondence between the Chief and the Council or the Mayor directing his attendance at the meeting. Please send these documents. [5] There were no recommendation letters for this vendors choice from the Chief or the Sgt please provide these documents if they exist.

Anne Drouin SPR25/0844 Page 3 April 7, 2025 The City is advised that the duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). Additionally, under the Public Records Law, a public employee is not required to answer questions, or do research, or create documents in response to questions. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); 32 Op. Att’y Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977). However, in accordance with the Public Records Law, custodians are expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requestors in obtaining the desired information. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5). Based on the information provided in Mr. Rodgers’ appeal petition, it is unclear whether the City possesses additional responsive records. The City must clarify this. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Rodgers with a response to his 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: William Rodgers II