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The New Bedford Light has filed a lawsuit against the City of New Bedford in Bristol County Superior Court for failure to produce public records.
The news organization claims that the city inappropriately withheld access to public records in two instances: first, in failing to provide documents detailing the risk assessment for organizations receiving American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds; and, second, in declining to provide records regarding payment to a consultant who is evaluating the police department.
Lawyers for the city withheld these records by claiming they were protected under “attorney-client privilege” and “deliberative process,” which are exemptions to releasing public records under Massachusetts General Law. The Light is challenging whether those exemptions apply to these records.
The Light had appealed the city’s withholding of ARPA records to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, who found that the city must provide more information to back up its claim of an exemption. In response, the city provided The Light with a list of the six documents it withheld and described them as either “legal opinion” or “city consultant seeking legal advice.”
The lawsuit alleges, in part, that this is not enough information to withhold public records. “The city’s responses do not sufficiently establish that the cited exemptions apply,” it reads. Other parts of the city’s responses were “simply repeating the City’s claim of privilege and disregarding the request to produce non-privileged portions,” the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit asks the court to enforce the public records law by ordering the city to release the records sought and to award The Light its attorney’s fees.
The public information officer for the City of New Bedford, Jonathan Darling, said he was not immediately able to provide a comment on Tuesday afternoon: “At 3:34 p.m. this afternoon, the City Solicitor’s Office accepted service of the Light’s lawsuit, and your 3:47 p.m. request referred to a 5 p.m. publishing deadline — leaving a little over an hour for the review of a complex legal filing. It’s unreasonable to think this is sufficient time for the City to formulate a response.”
The Light’s lawyer attempted to serve the city at 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, but city attorneys did not respond until later in the day.
Karen Bordeleau, executive editor of The New Bedford Light, provided this statement: “The role of journalism in a democracy ensures that elected officials serve the public’s interest and the best way to accomplish this is through public records. Unfortunately this administration has refused multiple times to turn over public documents that would shed light on its decision to award ARPA grant money to high risk projects or to release the cost of a police consultant’s review of departmental conduct.”
“It is time New Bedford’s taxpayers understand how the city spends their money and how it makes decisions that affect them,” she said. “It is time for the Mitchell administration to be more accountable, indeed more transparent, about how it conducts the public’s business.”
This is the first lawsuit that the New Bedford Light, a nonprofit news outlet founded in 2021, has filed against the city.
A second front: City responds to Boston Globe lawsuit
The Light’s lawsuit also seeks the city’s contract with 21st Century Policing Solutions. The City hired the external consultant in March to review the New Bedford Police Department’s internal affairs and narcotics units, including narcotics officers’ use of confidential informants. The city has not provided a copy of the contract.
A city public information officer has also declined to answer The Light’s questions about how much the consultant will be paid.
The consultant was hired after The Boston Globe published a multiple-part investigation into the New Bedford police’s use of confidential informants in narcotics investigations. Mayor Jon Mitchell called the Globe’s investigation “materially incomplete,” but he hired 21st Century Policing Solutions to review the investigation’s findings soon after its publication.
The Globe has also filed a lawsuit against the City of New Bedford, claiming that some records it requested were inappropriately denied, while others were incomplete. The lawsuit was filed on May 13, the day after the newspaper published the first installment of its investigation.
Last week, the City of New Bedford filed its response to the Globe’s claims, denying that it improperly withheld documents. Lawyers for the city asked the court to dismiss The Globe’s lawsuit so that the city “can continue to engage in a cooperative interactive process in regard to the Globe’s August 4, 2023, public records request.”
Exhibits filed in The Globe’s lawsuit demonstrate that its reporters’ and lawyers’ back-and-forth with the city lasted more than a year before The Globe resorted to filing its lawsuit.
Both The Light’s and The Globe’s lawsuits are pending in Bristol County Superior Court.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
NBL, you too are withholding info. Keeping comments from being posted you are just as guilty. I myself have had many comments omitted, no profanity, simply stating facts. It seems you are very easy on posting comments on Mayor Mitchell, especially negative information. Yet, on school department you are guarded. If you plan on stating you are nonpartisan, then your personal opinion should not be blocking others comments. Fact!
Yes, most comments are not posted here. It’s both positive and negative comments. It’s hardly worth even trying, which is so strange considering the Light wants to be a legitimate space for local news. What kind of local news source doesn’t allow most comments?
I want to thank NBL for this article. It took courage to fight back but the information you seek is so necessary. For the past 20 years NB residents have been dealing with the unethical process of gentrification. To be clear the last step is safety. The increase of violence in a city of only 100k peoole in concentrated areas should not be able to happen unless its part of the plan. I pray that both you and the Globe prevail so that we the residents can confirm what we already know. Safety first! Our children’s future and mental security depends on it. Community awareness and access to public information regarding tbe money WE THE RESIDENTS contribute to City operations should be transparent! Especially if we are paying for our own demise. I hope this article sparks the CIVIC RESPONSIBILTY we as residents need to execute to preserve the NB lifestyle we all know and love. Be clear many who are experiencing tbe influx of violence in our city is because your property is PRIME REALTY!!! Hold on to it!! DO NOT SELL IT!!! Watch how you will be able to take care of your famiky for years to come. Peace