Burr Ridge Mayor Blasts Rival Trustee In Official Letter

BURR RIDGE, IL — Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso laid into Trustee Zach Mottl in a letter Wednesday, accusing him of "embarrassing antics" and calling him a "purveyor of unsupported accusations."

The message, which was on village letterhead, was emailed to Burr Ridge Patch through a village secretary.

Check the letter by Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso about Trustee Zach Mottl.

In the letter, Grasso suggested he knew when the problem began.

"Mottl hasn't recovered from the Village residents re-electing me Mayor in April 2019 over him," Grasso wrote. "He has used slurs against me as an American of Italian heritage and made a host of baseless accusations. Because he brought gutter politics into the Burr Ridge Mayoral race in 2019, I have sued Mottl."

Grasso concluded his letter with a reference to the April village election, in which both plan to seek re-election.

Mottl "has proven that he cannot be believed and should do what his fellow trustees demand — resign his office," Grasso said. "If Mottl does not, thankfully there is an election this April."

A year ago, Grasso said, Mottl accused the village of improprieties, but provided no proof. The mayor said he asked DuPage County prosecutors to examine anything that Mottl could produce. The prosecutors told the village in the spring that they would not pursue Mottl's unsubstantiated accusations, Grasso said.

Grasso spent more than half of his letter defending the village's decision to start a local court and hire former Cook County Circuit Judge Denise Filan as its hearing officer. Mottl questioned at this week's board meeting whether Filan had a conflict of interest.

"Judge Denise Filan is highly credentialed — especially to be the adjudication officer for this program," Grasso said. "I did not know Judge Filan but saw immediately that she is a person of substance and integrity."

In his response to Grasso's letter, Mottl called Grasso a "dirty bully." He said the letter was another example of the mayor's use of village resources to engage in political speech and damage a political opponent.

"It's clearly a campaign activity," Mottl said in an email to Patch. "The board didn't approve this letter, yet it's on village letterhead, drafted and distributed by village staff and seems to be issued as if it's the village's official position."

Mottl also said he stood by his previous accusations. For instance, he alleges that Grasso's son's valet business with local liquor establishments is an ethical issue, given the mayor's role as local liquor commissioner.

He also said the mayor previously had homestead tax exemptions for his homes in Burr Ridge and Chicago, when a taxpayer can only have one. Grasso has said that Cook County mistakenly granted him the tax break in Chicago.

"Using the board and village resources to constantly gaslight and disparage me via ad homonym attacks doesn’t change the truth: There is a problem, and it's growing worse every day," Mottl said.

The Village Board has officially reprimanded Mottl six times.