Public Records / FOIA Requests

Through a public records request, I recently obtained scanned copies of the City’s trash contracts with the FW Russell company. The fine print challenges the claim made at the March 2nd BOA Legislative Matters Committee meeting by former City Solicitor, John Gannon, that only the Mayor has the power to break a contract.
(Just to be [...]

Residents have a right to know whether the FW Russell Company voided its contract with the City when it was found to have intentionally violated state wage and hours laws by AG Coakley’s office.

to Jaclyn Rossetti <JRossetti(at)somervillema.gov>
cc Thomas Champion <TChampion(at)somervillema.gov>,
John Gannon <JGannon(at)somervillema.gov>
date Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 9:16 AM
subject Public Records Request : 311 Service Requests
Dear Public Information Officer Jackie Rossetti, (cc Thomas Champion, Exec Dir of Communications and John Gannon, City Solicitor)
In the public interest and per MA public records law M.G.L. Chapter 66: Section 10, which states that
“A custodian of [...]

In preparation for the parking tickets story, I have submitted the following request for public records to the City:
—————–
to Jaclyn Rossetti <JRossetti(at)somervillema.gov>
cc Thomas Champion <TChampion(at)somervillema.gov>
date Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 10:16 AM
subject Public Records Request : Parking Meter Revenues
Dear Public Information Officer Jackie Rossetti, (cc Thomas Champion, Exec Dir of Communications)
In the public interest and per MA public records [...]

In preparation for the parking tickets story, I have submitted the following request for public records to the City:
—————–
to Jaclyn Rossetti <JRossetti(at)somervillema.gov>
cc Thomas Champion <TChampion(at)somervillema.gov>
date Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 10:10 AM
subject Public Records Request : Parking Officer Data
Dear Public Information Officer Jackie Rossetti, (cc Thomas Champion, Exec Dir of Communications)
In the public interest and per MA public records [...]

In preparation for the parking tickets story, I have submitted the following request for public records to the City:
——————
to Jaclyn Rossetti <JRossetti(at)somervillema.gov>
cc Thomas Champion <TChampion(at)somervillema.gov>
date Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 10:00 AM
subject Public Records Request : Car Towing Information
Dear Public Information Officer Jackie Rossetti, (cc Thomas Champion, Exec Dir of Communications)
In the public interest and per MA public records [...]

In preparation for the parking tickets story, I have submitted the following request for public records to the City:
——————
to Jaclyn Rossetti <JRossetti(at)somervillema.gov>
cc Thomas Champion <TChampion(at)somervillema.gov>
date Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 9:55 AM
subject Public Records Request : Parking Ticket Appeals
Dear Public Information Officer Jackie Rossetti, (cc Thomas Champion, Exec Dir of Communications)
In the public interest and per MA public records [...]

In preparation for the parking tickets story, I have submitted the following request for public records to the city:
——————
to Jaclyn Rossetti <JRossetti(at)somervillema.gov>
cc Thomas Champion <TChampion(at)somervillema.gov>
date Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 9:21 AM
subject Public Records Request : Parking Ticket Data
Dear Public Information Officer Jackie Rossetti, (cc Thomas Champion, Exec Dir of Communications)
In the public interest and per MA public records [...]

Thanks to SomervilleVoices for providing this venue to post our Public Information Requests -and to share the responses (or lack therof) that we receive.
Here’s one example of a PIR response that raises red flags.
June 15, 2009 Request for ADA Transition Plans of 10 City facilities
“TO:  Carlene Campbell,  ADA Coordinator for City of Somerville,  
93 Highland [...]

I just submitted the following query through ResiStat’s public Q/A tool called SomerBlog:
What types of information are stored with each 311 request? (e.g. request, date + time of request / resolution, service location, requester’s name, address, and phone, language, ethnicity, gender, etc…) Which parameters are required and which are optional? How long is the data [...]

These are my notes from the great Freedom of Information conference, held at the Boston Globe, 5/1/09 (Bill Shelton was there and had taken part in the planning of it as a member of the sponsoring New England First Amendment Coalition) As an aside, I will say I’ve already used www.pipl.com a bunch of times [...]