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A Bristol Superior Court judge ordered the City of New Bedford to turn over four public records to The New Bedford Light after the news organization filed a lawsuit seeking their release. The city also released another withheld document sought by The Light on Wednesday, the day before the court hearing.
Although Judge Raffi Yessayan gave the city one week to turn over the public records, the city immediately complied and sent the records via email to The Light’s lawyers. The records include documents related to the city’s risk assessments of organizations receiving ARPA funds — the federal COVID relief package.
On Wednesday, the city also released its contract with 21st Century Policing Solutions, a consultant hired to review the Police Department’s internal accountability systems. The contract was part of The Light’s lawsuit, but was released to the public hours before the judge was scheduled to make his ruling.
“The court’s ruling today is an important victory because it confirms that the public’s interest takes precedence over government secrecy,” said Karen Bordeleau, executive editor of The Light. “Government transparency is a critical element of a functioning democracy. There must always be a presumption of openness in government — but when there isn’t, we must hold officials accountable.”
The City of New Bedford’s lawyers argued for months that the documents sought by The Light should not be made public, including the 21st Century Policing Solutions contract that was sent in a press release on Wednesday afternoon. Lawyers for The Light said that about 20 minutes after the contract was released to the public, they received a reply from city lawyers that argued the same contract was protected under attorney-client privilege and exempt from public records law.
“We’re gratified that the judge took the time to review the withheld memos. After reviewing them, the judge stated quite clearly that they were not privileged communications for purposes of requesting legal advice, but rather were prepared in the course of ordinary city business,” said Edward J. Naughton, partner at Brown Rudnick LLP and lawyer for The Light. “The ruling vindicates the right of the people of New Bedford to know what decisions the city is making and why – and that’s especially important when the decisions are about how to spend public funds.”
After Judge Yessayan announced his decision on Thursday, Peter Winters, the city’s lead attorney in court, responded, “We are going to need time to redact personal information [from the documents] as well as time to determine whether or not to appeal this decision.” However, the documents were delivered within hours of the judge’s decision.
Winters declined to provide further comment on Thursday.
“This was a good faith dispute as to whether six documents were subject to the attorney-client privilege, and therefore not subject to disclosure. Under Massachusetts law, if a party refrains from asserting the privilege, there is a risk that a court may deem the privilege waived as to all communications of the same subject matter. In this instance, the court held that two documents were privileged, and four others were not. The City promptly complied with the Court’s determination and produced the four nonprivileged documents to the New Bedford Light,” said Jonathan Darling, public information officer for the City of New Bedford.
The Light originally sought the release of six documents related to the risk assessments that helped the city determine how to distribute ARPA funds. Judge Yessayan found that two of these documents were exempt from public records law and were not to be released. The two protected documents were authored by third-party attorneys, while the documents he ordered be released were authored by city employees and consultants.
The Light first requested these risk assessments in February, and had appealed the city’s initial denial of records to the Secretary of the Commonwealth in March. The Secretary ordered the city to comply with the public records law, but the city failed to provide the records, leading The Light to file its lawsuit in June.
The contract with 21st Century Policing Solutions was first sought in March, and the city for months declined to provide that information, claiming it was privileged. The city now has released the contract.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
Thank you for operating on society’s check on government corruption. The demise of the Standard Times left a void that needed to be filled.
Demise of the Standard Times? Smaller is not the same as dead. I would think that anyone who appreciates good journalism should also strive for accuracy and honesty in their own writing rather than misleading exaggerations.
Describe an instance of the standard times doing investigative journalism.
Thank you so much! The transparency under the Lang Administration is long gone.
Good work, NB Light. I recall city counsel (city lawyer) offering incorrect advice on an obvious need-to-know issue years ago. We need to hold them accountable.
City and School department.
Just another reason for King Mitchell’s reign to come to an end.
Where is the follow up from December’s Lights reporting on School paying health premiums for deceased employees?