Daniel Lipton v. Somerville, City of (SPR 20253786)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 30, 2025 SPR25/3786 Meredith Stivers, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor City of Somerville 93 Highland Avenue Somerville, MA 02143 Dear Attorney Stivers: On December 22, 2025, this office received your petition on behalf of the City of Somerville, (City) seeking an extension of time to produce records and requesting permission to assess fees for time spent segregating and redacting responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, it is my understanding that the City furnished a copy of the petition to the requestor, Daniel Lipton. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On December 1, 2025, Mr. Lipton requested “all public records related to communications, emails, drafts, meetings, lobbying iteractions, [sic] and external correspondence between Somerville City Council members and any outside organizations (including DSA, CAIR, BDS, or foreign advocacy groups) regarding the recent boycott resolution against Israel.” On December 5, 2025, Mr. Lipton modified his request to seek “emails that contain the word Palestine in the subject line or the body of the email, sent from or received by citycouncil@somervillema.gov between 9/1/2025 and 11/30/2025.” Conclusion Subsequent to the opening of this petition, in an email to the City and this office on December 25, 2025, Mr. Lipton stated, “[a]t this time I am withdrawing my multiple requests under FOIA.” In light of the decision to withdraw the request, I find it is unnecessary to opine on the City’s petition at this time. 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

Meredith Stivers, Esq. SPR25/3786 Page 2 December 30, 2025 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Daniel Lipton