Davis, Jr., Raymond v. Worcester, City of (SPR 20262365)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records June 26, 2026 SPR26/2365 Michael Manning Records Access Officer City of Worcester 455 Main Street Worcester, MA 01609 Dear Mr. Manning: On June 23, 2026, this office received your petition on behalf of the City of Worcester (City) seeking an extension of time to produce records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, I understand that the City furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor, Raymond E. Davis, Jr. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). On May 22, 2026, Mr. Davis requested the following: [1] All budget documents, salary worksheets, compensation spreadsheets, payroll analyses, or related records submitted by each department during the FY26 budget process that contain employee compensation information before and after the July 1, 2025 pay scale adjustments, including:  Employee name  Position title  Department  Pay grade  Step  Salary amount  Any changes to pay grade, step, or salary resulting from the July 1, 2025 pay scale adjustments. [2] Any documents, spreadsheets, studies, analyses, calculations, formulas, methodologies, compensation studies, consultant reports, benchmarking materials, internal memoranda, meeting materials, or other records used to:  Develop the new pay scales;  Determine new pay grade minimums and maximums;  Determine employee placement within revised pay grades; 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 Manning SPR26/2365 Page 2 June 26, 2026  Calculate salary adjustments associated with the revised pay scales;  Determine which employees received increases beyond COLA adjustments;  Determine whether employees would receive or lose merit increases as part of the transition. [3] Any communications, memoranda, policies, or guidance documents [from January 1, 2024 through July 31, 2025] discussing:  Compression adjustments;  Equity adjustments;  Merit increases associated with the revised pay scales;  Employees whose salaries exceeded or approached revised pay grade maximums;  The treatment of employees at or near the maximum of their revised pay grades. [4] Any presentations, agenda packets, meeting minutes, or supporting materials provided to:  City/Town administration;  Human Resources;  Finance;  Department heads;  City Council/Select Board/Personnel Board; concerning the July 1, 2025 compensation restructuring or pay scale adjustments. [5] Any contracts, scopes of work, proposals, invoices, reports, or deliverables associated with outside consultants, vendors, or firms retained to conduct compensation studies, classification studies, market analyses, or pay scale restructuring related to the July 1, 2025 adjustments. [6] Any Human Resources recommendations, memoranda, analyses, or briefing materials submitted to the City Manager, City Administrator, Mayor, Executive Office, or equivalent authority regarding adoption or implementation of the revised pay scales. [7] Any records relating to appeals, exceptions, overrides, discretionary adjustments, reclassifications, off-cycle adjustments, or special approvals associated with employee placement within the revised pay scales or compensation structure. [8] Any records sufficient to show the methodology or criteria used to determine which employees received salary increases beyond standard COLA adjustments during implementation of the revised pay scales.

Michael Manning SPR26/2365 Page 3 June 26, 2026 Petitions for an Extension of Time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(b). Current Petition In its petition, the City requests an extension of 30 business days and provides the following information in support of its request: The City of Worcester seeks an extension of time to fulfill this request. The request seeks eight broad categories of records concerning the City’s salary policies and how these policies are applied including detailed analyses relating to the calculation of the City’s pay scale. The City of Worcester is the second largest municipality in Massachusetts and has over 1,000 full-time employees. Each item sought request requires the assistance of the City’s Human Resources Department to assist with the tasks of searching for and compiling the responsive records. In addition to their regular duties of overseeing the outreach and recruitment for open positions, assisting with onboarding for new employees, and ensuring that

Michael Manning SPR26/2365 Page 4 June 26, 2026 fair labor practices are followed, the Human Resources Department also must complete additional tasks associated with the close of the City’s fiscal year. Once the process of searching for and compiling the records has been completed, the records are provided to the City’s Law Department for review, redaction and production to the requestor. I expect to review and where necessary redact the responsive records pursuant to Exemptions (b) and (c) of the Public Records Law. I specifically anticipate redacting certain internal personnel rules and practices regarding the revised pay scales under Exemption (b) and any responsive record which represents one of the core categories of personnel information that is useful in making employment decisions regarding a specific employee under Exemption (c). Finally, since May 22, 2026, the City has received 1,510 public records requests. It is likely that a substantial portion of these additional requests may also require review and redaction by the City’s Law Department. In light of the need to collect, segregate and examine the records, as well as the capacity of the City to produce the records without an extension, the City respectfully asks that the Supervisor grant an extension of thirty business days to fulfill this public records request. I find that in light of the need to search for, collect, segregate and examine the records and the capacity of the City to produce the request without the extension, the City has established good cause to permit an extension of time. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c)(i)-(iv). The City is granted an extension of 30 business days. Conclusion Accordingly, I find the City has established good cause for a time extension of 30 business days as described above. Please note, Mr. Davis has the right to seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(c), 10A(c). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Raymond E. Davis, Jr.