AGO PR 11-18b.

CourtRhode Island
Rhode Island Attorney General Opinions 2011. AGO PR 11-18b. July 1, 2011 PR 11-18 Ms. Lynn Miller 245 Norton Street East Providence, Rhode Island 02915 Re: Miller v. City of East Providence Dear Ms. Miller: The investigation into your Access to Public Records Act ("APRA") complaint filed against the City of East Providence ("City") is complete. By letter dated April 8, 2011, you allege the City violated the APRA by failing to timely respond to your request dated March 23, 2011. You provided the certified mail receipts, which indicate that your March 23, 2011 APRA request was received by the City on March 28, 2011. Pursuant to your APRA request dated March 23, 2011, you requested from the City "records relating to any all [sic] payroll records, billing statements, payroll hours, salary, benefits, hourly pay, for the following employees and/or independent contractors from December 1, 2008, to the present date." Specifically, you asked to obtain the aforementioned records for the "City Solicitor(s)" and "Assistant City Solicitor(s)." Subsequently, by letter dated May 12, 2011, Ms. Gina A. DiCenso, Assistant City Solicitor for the City of East Providence, provided this Department with an affidavit from Ms. Barbara Sousa, a Legal Secretary for the City of East Providence, responding to your April 8, 2011 complaint. In pertinent part, Ms. Sousa's affidavit states that:
"The first page of Ms. Miller's APRA [request] was dated March 23, 2011, and the second page [was] dated March 18, 2011.
The U.S. Postal Service receipt of that certified letter shows that our Superintendent of Buildings signed for the letter on March 28, 2011. After conferring with the City's legal counsel, I used the March 28, 2011 date to count the ten (10) business day period as that was the only verifiable date for the APRA, and the other dates were in conflict and not able to be verified. The ten business day period wherein we were obligated to provide the documents would make the due date April 11, 2011. I contacted Ms. Miller at her residence by phone on or before April 11, 2011 and spoke to Ms. Miller's husband. I informed Ms. Miller's husband that the documents were ready either to mail or be picked up and quoted the copying cost to him. Ms. Miller's husband said he would advise his wife and she would pick them up. On April 12th, [2011] Ms...

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