Request #22-234 (Greenfield, MA - Mayor's Office)

Request for public records made to City of Greenfield.

Agency

City of Greenfield

Summary

“This is exactly the kind of information we’ve been waiting for,” said Mayor Roxann Wedegartner. “I’m not terribly surprised by what I’m reading here, but I’m glad to have it confirmed by DEP. We did ask them quite a while ago — maybe a little over a year ago — to do this, and they declined at the time.” Greenfield Recorder article by Mary Byrne on the DEP Audit Report covering the Lunt Silversmiths cleanup, posted online on 6/1/2022 at approximately 7:30 pm.1.) This request is for any records associated with, that back-up, or provide evidence that the above quoted statement by Mayor Wedegartner is truthful and based on the record. Specifically, this official statement- "We did ask them quite a while ago — maybe a little over a year ago — to do this, and they declined at the time." The "We" apparently refers to the City of Greenfield, and "them" refers to the MA DEP, so there should be a written record that the City requested that DEP "do this" which means to conduct a comprehensive audit of the Lunt cleanup. Please provide the records that verify that the City asked DEP "to do this".2.) This request is for any email, letter, correspondence, or other method of communication from the City to DEP in which the Mayor or other City employees, consultants, or contractors, requested DEP to conduct an audit "quite a while ago- maybe a little over a year ago". Therefore, this request covers this same time period that the Mayor referred to in her statement, the time period from the present to a little over a year ago, or whatever time period that is necessary to locate the records that verify the Mayor's statement of fact.3.) This request is also for any records that indicate that (DEP) "they declined at the time", which means that DEP declined to conduct an audit after being requested to do so, "quite a while ago- maybe a little over a year ago", as stated by the Mayor. The time period for this record would likely be anytime after the official request was made to DEP to conduct an audit. Since this response to the City from DEP would have occurred in response to the request, only the time period subsequent to the request needs to be searched. Since the Mayor remembers the response, it should be readily available and easily provided.4.) Since the Mayor made this statement to a newspaper reporter, it must be based on her personal knowledge, and must be an official and truthful statement, so there must be a record to back up what she said in her official capacity. Since this statement was made to address a public concern, the records related to this matter are of public interest and should be readily available and made accessible to the public, as provided by the MA Public Records Law.The requested information will not be used for any commercial purposes, and therefore a waiver of any fees associated with making these records available to the public is requested.

Request Date

2022-06-01

Agency Tracking

22-234

Acquisition Notes

This record was automatically imported from greenfield.nextrequest.com

Status

Fulfilled

This record is part of the StateReference Public Records Requests collection. This is a public records request to a state agency or municipality.

This record was originally posted at https://greenfield.nextrequest.com/requests/22-234.