WHY WE MADE THIS REQUEST
There was a rumor that the Mayor was trading in her taxpayer funded jalopy for something new, in case she was re-elected, or something to take with her on her way out the door.
Her prior vehicle was a police car purchased out of LETF funds. LETF funds don’t need city council permission to spend and are used as needed by the police for their needs as they come up, with certain parameters. We have a secondary FOIA targeting LETF purchases which has not yet been returned to us fulfilled. In our last check, just under two years ago, the LETF fund had the following balances:
Balance of Department of Treasury funds: $365,939.33
Balance of Department of Justice Funds: $670,753.11
Balance of state/local funds: $20,935.82
For the time being, the guide on what the LETF funds can be used for can be read below or downloaded.
To see some of the uses of the LETF fund under former Chief Trask read the file or download it below.
For more of these top secret LETF purchases made autonomously without oversight without city council or executive branch approval, we must wait until the Police responds to our outstanding request.
OUR CURRENT REQUEST AND RESPONSE:
| Request Submitted | 11/22/2021 8:00:00 AM |
| Requester Name | The FUN |
| Requested Department | Accounting |
| Request Content | Seeking any documentation of any vehicles purchased by the city, or by fire between June 1 2021 and the present. If there was a purchase, please include all itemized invoices. |
THE RESPONSE: (Click to Enlarge Photos)
Division of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs has no records related to this request.
In August 2021, the Fire Department ordered, but has not taken delivery of, a new Ford F250 pickup truck from MHQ using the Plymouth County Collaborative pricing program. This pickup will replace “Car 4”, which is used by the Deputy Chief in charge of Training/Safety. Documentation is attached/linked for both these vehicles.
The Fire Department purchased a new fire engine on 11/24/21 for $714,370 from Allegiance Fire & Rescue using the HGAC collaborative pricing program. This will replace Engine 7 at the Nobscot Fire Station, and is a 2021 Pierce Enforcer 1500GPM Pumper. This truck is currently staged at Fire Headquarters until it is fully equipped and all personnel have undergone orientation training from the vendor, and is expected to go into service in approximately a month.
Some details related to this request are redacted due to the items intended use and purpose by the Framingham Police.
The information will be redacted under Exemption b. EXEMPTION (b) Exemption (b) applies to records that are related solely to internal personnel rules and practices of the government unit, provided however, that such records shall be withheld only to the extent that proper performance of necessary governmental functions requires such withholding 134 With respect to this exemption, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law advises that There are no authoritative Massachusetts decisions interpreting Exemption (b). The general purpose of the cognate federal exemption, however, is to relieve agencies of the burden of assembling and maintaining for public inspection matters in which the public cannot reasonably be expected to have a legitimate interest.135 The language of the federal provision is duplicated in the first clause of Exemption (b). The addition of the qualifying second clause of Exemption (b) evidences a legislative intent to create an exemption that is narrower in scope than the previously enacted, parallel federal exemption.136 For Exemption (b) to apply in Massachusetts, a records custodian must demonstrate not only that the records relate solely to the internal personnel practices of the government entity, but also that proper performance of necessary government functions will be inhibited by disclosure.
Is this Spicer’s new personal police car?
DPW has attached all documents that we have as of today.
