Burr Ridge May Reveal Top Public Records Requesters

BURR RIDGE, IL – A Burr Ridge trustee said at a Village Board meeting on Monday that the village has seen many public records requests over the last couple of years.

So Trustee Joe Snyder, who was connected to the meeting remotely from Florida, asked officials to provide trustees with the names of the top five people who are filing Freedom of Information Act requests and the costs.

Village Administrator Evan Walter told Snyder the village could provide that information.

No one else commented, but trustees have long complained about what they consider a large number of public records requests.

Their particular target is former Trustee Zach Mottl, a political adversary of Mayor Gary Grasso who has filed many requests before and after he was voted out of office in 2021.

Under state law, most government records are considered open to the public.

In October, village officials lamented the nearly $10,000 in costs the previous month for responding to records requests.

The $10,000 bill was particularly high; a month earlier, the costs amounted to less than $2,000.

Many of the public records requests last fall were about a development featuring Costco that was under consideration.

In October, Patch revealed emails from Village Administrator Evan Walter in which he said Costco must be a part of any development of the site. Neighbors oppose such a plan.

Also, an email to Patch in April showed Walter denying any knowledge of the possibility of a Costco on the CNH site, even though he repeatedly emailed a Costco representative for months about just that.

Another public records request to the village showed the Burr Ridge Park District discussed the CNH development behind closed doors in possible violation of the Open Meetings Act.