Andrew Carleen v. Quincy, City of - Office of the City Clerk (SPR 20252999)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records October 21, 2025 SPR25/2999 Brenda G. Fernandez Public Records Coordinator City of Quincy Office of the City Clerk 1305 Hancock Street Quincy, MA 02169 Dear Ms. Fernandez: I have received the petition of Andrew Carleen appealing the response of the City of Quincy (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On October 2, 2025, Mr. Carleen requested, “[a]ll emails, text messages, and other written communication electronic or otherwise received or sent by Quincy city officials pertaining to the receipt or review of the signatures submitted by Citizens for Fair Wages to add a question to the November city ballot related to the Mayor’s salary increase.” Following correspondence with the City, Mr. Carleen modified his request on October 9, 2025, to request the following: …all communications, including but not limited to emails, memos, text messages, and correspondence between the Office of the Mayor (including [an identified individual] and staff), the Office of the City Clerk (including [an identified individual] and staff), and any other city officials involved in the review of the Citizens for Fair Raises ballot initiative, regarding the receipt, review, certification, or processing of petition signatures submitted by Citizens for Fair Raises or any ballot initiative committee seeking to place a question related to the mayor’s salary on the November 2025 municipal ballot. To assist with your search, please include communications that contain any of the following terms or phrases: “Board of Registrars,” “signatures,” “ballot,” “salary,” “petition,” “citizens 4 fair raises,” “receipt,” “review.” Please limit the search to communications sent or received between July 1, 2025, and September 30, 2025, unless responsive materials outside this range are found to be directly relevant. 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

Brenda G. Fernandez SPR25/2999 Page 2 October 21, 2025 The City responded on October 9, 2025 and October 10, 2025. Unsatisfied with the City’s responses, Mr. Carleen petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/2999, 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 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. Attorney 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 October 9th and October 10th Responses In its October 9, 2025 response, the City provided a response from its IT department, which estimated a fee of $11,200 to perform the search and stated, “[t]he person would have to be specific on who is a city official, I would need specific names to search on.” After Mr. Carleen argued that the response was inadequate, the City responded on October 10, 2025, “[t]he subject of this FOIA is being currently litigated in court. Thus, at this time, we are checking with legal counsel, as we feel there is an exemption under the freedom of information act which prohibits us from providing information at this time.” Current Appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Carleen argued that the City’s responses are deficient for the following reasons: [1] Invocation of an irrelevant statute: It is my understanding that the Freedom of Information Act governs federal agencies and has no bearing on this request… [2] Excessive fee estimate… [3] Failure to provide a compliant response…

Brenda G. Fernandez SPR25/2999 Page 3 October 21, 2025 Burden of Specificity Under the Public Records Law, the burden shall be on the custodian to establish the applicability of an exemption to withhold or redact public records. Based on the City’s October 10, 2025 response, it appears the City is withholding the records without claiming any exemption(s) in the Public Records Law that would support the withholding of the responsive records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv) (a written response must “identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based”). See also Globe Newspaper Co.v. Police Comm’r, 419 Mass. 852, 857 (1995); Flatley, 419 Mass. at 511. The City must clarify this matter. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Carleen 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. Mr. Carleen may appeal the substantive nature of the City’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Andrew Carleen