Mayor Called To Address Framingham Public Records Problem

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Mayor Yvonne Spicer will soon appear before City Council to answer questions about transparency in city government.

At Tuesday's meeting, the Council voted 9-2 to bring Spicer and her chief deputy, Chief Operating Officer Thatcher Kezer, to a future meeting to address the city's public records system. The vote came after a tense back-and-forth between Councilors and Kezer over a range of public records problems — from residents seeking data about traffic in the city to emails related to the former health director's resignation.

Originally, District 4 Councilor Michael Cannon had wanted to compel the city's chief public records officer, Todd Palmer, to speak to the Council. Palmer has declined to appear citing a medical condition, Kezer has said. Instead, Cannon called for a vote to bring Spicer before Councilors.

Several members of City Council on Tuesday peppered Kezer with questions about a recent incident where the state Secretary of the Commonwealth had to order the city to release three emails related to former health director Dr. Sam Wong's resignation. The emails contained drafts of press releases about Wong's departure.

The city had initially withheld the emails citing Wong's medical privacy, but state officials found the records could be released. Council Vice Chair Adam Steiner asked Kezer how the decision was made to withhold the emails, and whether the mayor was involved.

Kezer said there were multiple people involved in the decision, and said the city's ability to release the records was "definitely a gray area."

"Clearly, there's a public records transparency problem in this city that is huge," Vice Chair Adam Steiner said.

District 8 Councilor John Stefanini said he recently spoke to a city resident who was curious about traffic in their neighborhood. When the resident filed a public records request for the information, Stefanini said, he received a $250 bill and just gave up. Other communities offer that kind of information to residents for free, he said.

"It's about people in this community and their trust in government," he said.

District 9 Councilor Tracey Bryant and District 2 Councilor Cesar Stewart-Morales voted against bringing Spicer to talk to Council about public records and transparency.