David Webb v. Worcester City Clerk (SPR 20252837)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records October 9, 2025 SPR25/2837 Michael Vigneux Records Access Officer City of Worcester – Law Department 455 Main Street, Room 301 Worcester, MA 01608 Dear Mr. Vigneux: I have received the petition of David Webb appealing the response of the City of Worcester (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On September 19, 2025, Mr. Webb requested “45 minutes of footage including the entrance into the building, any door breaking, an [initial] walkthrough, and the conversations where it was determined that there had not been any threat at that location to respond to in the first place from the July 23, 2025 incident in which Worcester Police officers were dispatched to the area of lower West Boylston Streetfor [sic] reports of a possible social media threat involving weapons.” Prior Appeal A similar request was the subject of a prior appeal. See SPR25/2303 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (August 20, 2025). In my August 20th determination, I encouraged Mr. Webb and the City to communicate in order to facilitate producing records efficiently and affordably. Subsequently, Mr. Webb placed his September 19, 2025 request. The City responded on September 19 and September 23, 2025. Unsatisfied with the responses, Mr. Webb petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/2837, 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). 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

Michael Vigneux SPR25/2837 Page 2 October 9, 2025 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 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 September 19th and September 23rd Responses In its September 19, 2025 response, the City assigned Mr. Webb’s request reference number P077227-091925. In its September 23, 2025 response, the City referred Mr. Webb to a fee which it had assessed in response to an earlier request. In its prior August 7, 2025 response, the City assessed a fee of $2,532.50 to provide Mr. Webb with 21 pages of reports and 2,052 minutes of body worn camera footage. The City detailed its fee estimate as follows: Preparing written narratives for public disclosure requires locating the responsive reports, extracting the reports from the Records Management System, and reviewing each document to locate information not subject to disclosure. As noted above, this review of written material is required by law. Redactions are then applied to the document; a second review is performed prior to disclosure to confirm that the document has been properly redacted. On average, this process requires 2 minutes of labor per page, not including finalization of the record and preparation of the written response … Properly responding to requests for BWC video(s) is a labor-intensive endeavor. The process requires locating the requested video(s), reviewing each video at least twice - once to determine if redaction and/or withholding are required pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 4, Section 7(26) and applicable statutes, and then making necessary edits (redaction) to the BWC footage. The Redaction Specialist locates the videos, if any, and determine the status of the videos which may involve conferring with WPD. The Redaction Specialist then undertakes the initial review and redaction necessary to prepare the video for disclosure. If legal questions regarding content arise throughout the process these questions are brought to the attention of the attorney working on the BWC program in the Law Department. Once the first draft of the redacted video is complete, the video is reviewed; any additional edits are noted and then applied by the Redaction Specialist if

Michael Vigneux SPR25/2837 Page 3 October 9, 2025 necessary. Note that application of video redaction, even with use of available tools to maximize efficiency, often involves frame-by-frame review. Once the final version of video is prepared, the Redaction Specialist and attorney confer to confirm the basis for all redacted material. No BWC video can be released until this entire process including legal review is complete. The Law Department then prepares the written response to the requester, citing exemptions as required by law … The hourly rate for the lowest paid employees capable of performing the search for the records, performing all tasks associated with this request, and completing review and redaction exceeds $25.00 per hour. The City has reduced the hourly labor charges to $25.00 per hour. The City may not charge for the first two hours of labor required to fulfill this request. The estimated costs have been calculated as set forth below. 2,052 minutes BWC footage x 3 minutes labor per minute of footage = 6,156 minutes 21 pages x 2 minutes labor per page = 42 minutes 6198 minutes = 103.3 hours 103.3 hours @ $25.00 per hour = $2,582.50 Minus 2 hours (no charge) @ $25.00 per hour = -$50.00 Total fee: $2,532.50 In its response, the City further stated that it planned to segregate and redact portions of the records pursuant to Exemptions (a), (c), and (f) of the Public Records Law. The City confirmed that it was assessing a fee only for segregation and redaction required by law pursuant to G. L. c. 6, §§ 168-172, G. L. c. 93H, 940 C.M.R. 27.00, and G. L. c. 66, § 10B. Although the City has estimated that the process of compiling, reviewing, and preparing responsive records for production will take 103.3 total hours of employee time, the City has not provided sufficient explanation of why this amount of employee time is necessary. Specifically, where Mr. Webb’s September 19th request does not seek reports, and seeks only 45 minutes of video recordings, it is unclear how the City must review, segregate, and redact 21 pages of reports and 2,052 minutes of video recordings. For the reasons discussed above, I find the City must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee of $2,532.50 assessed in its September 23, 2025 estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages Mr. Webb and the City to communicate further in order to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See 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

Michael Vigneux SPR25/2837 Page 4 October 9, 2025 produce the records sought more efficiently and affordably). Any revision to the request would result in the requirement to issue a revised fee estimate. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Webb with a response to the 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. Mr. Webb may appeal the substantive nature of the City’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: David Webb Janice Thompson, Esq.