Joanne Kane v. Westfield, City of - Gas and Electric Department (SPR 20251715)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records June 27, 2025 SPR25/1715 Robin Krok Records Administration Officer Westfield Gas & Electric Light Department 40 Turnpike Industrial Road Westfield, MA 01086-0990 Dear Ms. Krok: I have received the petition of Joanne Kane appealing the response of the Westfield Gas & Electric Light Department (Department) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On May 14, 2025, Ms. Kane requested the following records: [1] A list of all law firms and attorneys that have provided legal services to Westfield Gas + Electric/Whip City Fiber, including: Firm or attorney names, Dates of engagement, Nature or subject of services, Related contracts, scopes of work, and invoices paid[;] [2] Employment contracts for the General Managers and Assistant General Manager, including amendments[;] [3] A full record of employee compensation from 2020 to present including: Base salaries, Bonuses, Overtime, Stipends or allowances, Any additional or non- monetary compensation, Documentation showing how bonuses or incentive pay are determined. Prior Appeal and Petition This request was the subject of a prior appeal and a prior fee petition. See SPR25/1420 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (May 23, 2025) and SPR25/1480 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (May 30, 2025). In my May 23rd determination, I found that the Department had met its burden to assess a fee of $75.00 per hour for attorney review of records responsive to Item 1 of the request. In my May 30th determination, I ordered the Department to 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

Robin Krok SPR25/1715 Page 2 June 27, 2025 revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how its estimate was consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The Department responded on June 2, 2025. Unsatisfied with the response, Ms. Kane petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/1715, was opened as a result. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, the Department provided a supplemental response on June 20, 2025. 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 2 (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 Department’s Responses In its prior May 27, 2025 response, the Department assessed a fee of $4,250.00 to provide responsive records. The Department detailed its fee estimate as follows: All invoices will need to be reviewed to see if they contain any litigation strategy, legal opinions, or advice, and will then need to be redacted if privileged. WG+E estimates that gathering this information will take approximately 55 hours. The cost estimate for this item is 55 hours x $75.00 per hour = $4,125.00. WG+E assumes that your request for contracts for the General Manager and Assistant General Manager pertains to the individuals presently in these positions. Assuming WG+E is correct, this will require 1 hour of time. The cost estimate for this item is 1 hour x $25/hr = $25.00.

Robin Krok SPR25/1715 Page 3 June 27, 2025 Lastly regarding employee compensation from 2020 to present, WG+E estimates that gathering this information will take approximately 6 hours. The cost estimate for this work is 6 hours x $25.00 = $150.00. Total estimate = $4,250.00 Because the City of Westfield’s population exceeds 20,000, the first two hours of time are deducted from the total estimate. We have deducted 2 hours at the rate of $25/hr in the final estimate above. In its June 2, 2025 response, the Department provided the following additional details regarding its fee estimate: [Item 1]: [1] Segregation and Redaction Time [a] Estimated Time: 55 hours. WG+E estimates that the review of each invoice will take an average of approximately 10 minutes, inclusive of any redaction and saving of the redacted invoice. [b] Description: After the responsive records are located, the invoices requested under Item 1 will need to be reviewed by an attorney to determine whether any exemptions apply under the Public Records Law, primarily to Exemption (d) under the Public Information Law, and redacted for any exempt information. The reason that an attorney must review each invoice is that the WG+E staff are not qualified to perform the task, as it calls for a legal conclusion. [c] Hourly Rate: $75.00/hour [d] Subtotal: $4,125.00 … [e] Estimated Number of Pages: Approximately 1300 pages … [Item 2]: [1] Search Time … [a] Description: this includes the time required to identify and locate the responsive records. The search will be conducted by staff familiar with the records, ensuring efficiency. … [b] Estimated Number of Pages: Approximately 30 pages … [Item 3]: [1] Search Time …

Robin Krok SPR25/1715 Page 4 June 27, 2025 [a] Description: This includes the time required to identify and locate responsive records across accounting and Human Resource systems. The search will be conducted by staff familiar with the records, ensuring efficiency. Given the number of employees at WG+E this record request will produce voluminous amounts of data. … [b] Estimated Number of Pages: Approximately 300 pages[.] In its June 20, 2025 response, the Department stated: Although invoices are indexed by vendor, they are not categorized by legal matter, and due to the breadth of the request, indexing does not assist in narrowing the search. Each invoice must be carefully reviewed to ensure compliance with legal confidentiality requirements, including attorney-client privilege and HIPAA regulations. This review must be conducted by an attorney, who is best qualified to determine which information must be redacted. Invoices may also involve sensitive matters, such as employee disabilities, that require additional discretion. Whenever possible, the reviewing attorney is the one who originally billed for the services, which improves efficiency and accuracy. Our estimate of 10 minutes per invoice reflects the minimum time necessary to review, redact, and save each document. While some invoices may require more time due to complexity, we believe this estimate represents a reasonable baseline. In an email communication to this office on June 24, 2025, the Department clarified that any discrepancy between the fee assessed in its May 27, 2025 and June 20, 2025 fee estimate was unintentional and that the amounts included in the May 27th estimate were accurate. The Department further clarified that it was assessing a fee for only those redactions which are required by law. Modification of the Request In its June 2nd response, the Department suggested that Ms. Kane “… narrow the scope of [her] request for attorney invoices that relate to a particular matter … [and] narrow[] the number of individuals for which compensation information is sought[.]” In light of the Department’s response, I encourage Ms. Kane and the Department to communicate further in order to facilitate producing records efficiently and affordably. Ms. Kane may wish to narrow the parameters of her request or include applicable time periods or factors to enable the search to be processed. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(i). The Department 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

Robin Krok SPR25/1715 Page 5 June 27, 2025 scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. If issues remain after the parties communicate further, Ms. Kane may file a further appeal within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Joanne Kane