Requested by BradleyCampbell on Dec. 27, 2010 for the Boston Housing Authority of Boston, MA and fufilled on Feb. 14, 2011
Status: Completed
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the state Freedom of Information Act, G.L.M. c.4, €7, clause 26th, I hereby request the following records:
A full copy of all contracts and written agreements made by Boston's Boston Housing Authority for 2010.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.
In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Bradley Campbell
Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com
Daytime: (617) 299-1832
For mailed responses, please address:
MuckRock
185 Beacon St. #3
Somerville, MA 02143
Mr. Campbell - This is an extremely broad request. BHA enters into more than 150 contracts per year. Many are construction-related and contain hundreds of pages each. Another issue is your use of the word "agreements" which you have not defined. If you mean to include "agreements" entered into by the Authority such as a Purchase Order, there are thousands. You need to define exactly what you mean by the word "agreement"/ I advise you that even to assess the cost of responding to this request will be costly because of the staff research time required, and to produce all these documents will be very burdensome on this agency in terms of diversion of personnel and costly to you as we are not prepared to waive the fee.
Pursuant to the state Freedom of Information Act, G.L.M. c.4, €7, clause 26th, I hereby request the following records:
A list of all contracts, including the name of the business or organization and the contract's cost, made by Boston's Boston Housing Authority for 2010.
I will check to see if such a log or list exists or can be readily created.
It will require approximately 2 hours to create this log. The hourly rate of the lowest-paid person qualified to do this is $35 per hour; thus, a total of $70. Please confirm that you understand this charge and will pay it and wish us to undertake this work.
Hollis Young
Boston Housing Authority
52 Chauncy St.
Boston 02111
Feb. 7, 2011
Dear Hollis,
Enclosed is a check for $70.00, as payment for, as previously discussed,
"A list or log of all contracts, including the name of the business or organization and the contract's cost, made by Boston's Boston Housing Authority for 2010."
Thank you for your assistance and help in this matter.
Sincerely,
We make tools to keep our government transparent and accountable.
Read our blog and join our mailing list.
Email: info@muckrock.com