That is exactly what the law requires...and your quibble about the meaning of 'seeking guidance' from a state level office is just that.
Correct, but as some other posters have mentioned, there’s also the stonewalling, delays, release of records that have no pertinence, and so on. The city may be doing the one thing ‘correctly’, but add in the rest of the evidence and it makes this process simply look like a stalling tactic/distraction. As others have said, they almost definitely know their withhold request doesn’t hold water, but they did it anyway. And not within the 10day timeframe required.