Burr Ridge Got Number Wrong On Mayor's Critic

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge trustees have long complained about the legal costs of public records requests filed by former Trustee Zach Mottl, often without identifying him by name.

At some point, the village created a separate item in its invoice listings just for Mottl's Freedom of Information Act requests.

A couple of weeks ago, the village released a list of the highest-cost public records requesters so far this budget year, which ends April 30.

Mottl ranked 10th, at $288. That's a pretty low amount, given all the grumbling.

It turns out the village's number was wrong. The error was uncovered by resident Patricia Davis, who topped the list at $13,308.

Mottl's requests totaled $5,853 in legal costs. That puts him second on the list, just ahead of the Citizen Advocacy Center, an Elmhurst-based watchdog group.

All Davis did was add up the amounts in the Mottl line item. The information is online.

Village Administrator Evan Walter has not returned Patch's message from a week ago.

Davis told village officials about the mistake in an email last week.

"Congratulations to Mr. Mottl, he's now in second place," Davis said. "I was absolutely thrilled to learn I am the top requester of FOIAs in the Village of Burr Ridge."

In an email to Patch, Mottl said, "Why does village leadership tolerate such excessive billing from its law firm when citizens have a right to the information they, the public, own? It feels like somebody’s benefiting from this and that’s wrong. Transparency is free. The village needs a new law firm."

Mottl served on the Village Board for four years until Mayor Gary Grasso's allies defeated him in 2021.

During Mottl's term, Grasso led the board to reprimand Mottl five times. Their rivalry began during the bitter 2019 mayoral election, in which Grasso trounced Mottl in a landslide.