Access to Public Recods Act Request Sent to Portsmouth

10 June 2013

Mr. John C. Klimm
Town Administrator
Office of Town Administrator
Town Hall
2200 East Main Road
Portsmouth, RI 02871


Dear Mr. Administrator:

Pursuant to the Access to Public Records Act, R.I. Gen. laws § 38-2-1 et. seq., I am requesting access to records, which I believe are public documents. Since you are the custodian for all communications between the Town Council and your department as well as your department and outside agencies, this request goes to you.  Further, you are the custodian for all town agreements. It should be noted that I believe that all town workers who reside in Portsmouth are exempt from the “constituency rule”.  I also have reason to believe that the Portsmouth Business Association’s Board, sometimes in part, sometimes in total, has negotiated with various businesses on behalf of the Town and therefore is an agent thereof covered by the Act. Lastly, I believe that the current lawsuit regarding the tolls is not a negotiation by definition and that no expectation of privacy is in force.  Today, I seek multiple specific sets of items:

First, I am asking you for any written, verbal, electronic and/or other communication via phone, email, text, conversation, Facebook message, Facebook Posting, Twitter message and/or Tweet and/or Re-tweet, Google Plus message, Linkedin message or posting, Branchout message or posting, Myspace message and/or posting or any other internet posting and any notes taken resulting from, or as a part of, any communication with members of the Portsmouth Town Council, any Town employee, Portsmouth Economic Development Committee Chair Ray Berberick, Town Business Development Director William Clark, the Portsmouth Business Association either as its Board or as an individual member, any employee of the Edward Jones Corporation, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority, the Town Solicitor, the person most widely known as Karen Toti, the Portsmouth Rhode Island Economic Development Committee, any resident of Portsmouth, United Kingdom, and any consultant who has assisted the Town in trying to attract revenue and/or business concerns, any consultant who has worked on the town video show as it is known on Youtube,  any member of the Rhode Island General assembly whether they serve in the House or the Senate, any sewer consultant, any conversation that stems from the Teddy Roosevelt quote “Do what you can with what you’ve got where you are”, any of the employees of the preceding, assigns of the preceding, co-contractors of the preceding, spouses of the preceding, benefactors of the preceding and or patrons of the preceding regarding the attraction of new business to town since January 2012.  I am especially interested in documents going from Mr. Berberick and Mr. Clark to business concerns.  I am even more interested in cases where the businesses decide not to locate in Portsmouth.

Secondly,  I am asking you for  any written, verbal, electronic and/or other communication via phone, email, text, conversation, Facebook message, Facebook Posting, Twitter message and/or Tweet and/or Re-tweet, Google Plus message, Linkedin message or posting, Branchout message or posting, Myspace message and/or posting or any other internet posting and any notes taken resulting from, or as a part of,  any communication with members of the Portsmouth Town Council, any Town employee, Portsmouth Economic Development Committee Chair Ray Berberick, Town Business Development Director William Clark, the Portsmouth Business Association either as its Board or as an individual member, any employee of the Edward Jones Corporation, or other interested citizen who is not a qualified Portsmouth Elector regarding the effort to keep the Sakonnet Bridge as a non-tolled entity.

Third, I would like to see the specific agreement that allows to the Portsmouth Business Association the exclusive right to use the Town of Portsmouth’s logo.

Fourth, I would like to know who paid for Mr. William Clark’s membership fee to the Portsmouth Business Association.

Fifth, I would like to know how much the Town Solicitor has been paid to date for his court appearances on behalf of the anti-toll effort.

In accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-2-7, your office has ten (10) business days to provide the requested documents or to notify me in writing of the specific reasons for denying me access to the requested records. If the exemption you are claiming applies only to a portion of the records that I seek, please delete that portion and provide
photocopies of the remainder of the records. [See R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-2-2(4)(ii).]

Please be advised that I have evidence of Mr. Berberick representing two “entities”, i.e. the Town of Portsmouth and the Portsmouth Business Association, simultaneously in various conversations and I may pursue what appears to be the appearance of a “no bid contract” problem under separate cover with the appropriate authority.

Since the Town Council has acted on the anti-toll matter and sent the Solicitor to court on behalf of the Town, this request does not violate what is known as Exemption 20 in the Access to Public Records Act Handbook as published by the League of Cities and Towns.

I understand that for “good cause” the ten (10) business day time period may be extended for an additional twenty (20) business days, provided that I am notified of the “good cause” in writing within the original ten (10) business days of my request. I am very aware of the scope of the project I have laid out and will be appropriately sympathetic regarding the time it will take to cull all these items together properly. I also agree to pay a maximum of 15¢ per page for the cost photocopying and a maximum of $15 per hour for search and retrieval, with the first hour being free. It is also my understanding that the Town Clerk’s Office must provide me an estimate of the costs prior to providing copies.

Please notify me at the provided phone number or mailing address, I am on business travel at present, when the requested records are available for pickup. I will send someone to Town Hall at that time.

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,

Robert T. Oliveira