Burr Ridge Mayor Still Fights Rival In Court

BURR RIDGE, IL – The public battles between Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso and then-Trustee Zach Mottl largely ended two years ago.

But the two men are still fighting in DuPage County Court.

Four years ago, Grasso sued Mottl over what the mayor claimed was defamation in the 2019 mayoral race, which Grasso won in a landslide over Mottl.

In 2021, Grasso's allies defeated Mottl in his bid for a second term on the Village Board.

Because he is a public figure, Grasso must prove that Mottl showed "actual malice" in making untrue statements about Grasso.

Earlier this month, Mottl's lawyer, David Howard, filed a brief disputing Grasso's allegations.

Mottl declined to comment, saying the filing speaks for itself. Grasso did not return an emailed message seeking comment last week.

In his lawsuit, the mayor alleged Mottl made defamatory statements when he accused Grasso of "tax fraud" in campaign mailers.

Grasso held homestead exemptions for homes in Burr Ridge and Chicago, which resulted in breaks on property taxes. A person can only have one such exemption.

Grasso said his main house is in Burr Ridge and that the Cook County assessor mistakenly continued the exemption at his Chicago home from the previous owner.

Grasso argued Mottl had this information, but continued with his allegation.

Mottl "failed to obtain publicly available information that disproved that (Grasso) claimed and obtained a homeowner's exemption on the Chicago property he owns, even though (Grasso) publicly stated that the homeowner's exemption was an assessor's error," Grasso alleged.

However, Howard said Grasso failed to show Mottl's state of mind when the alleged defamatory statements were made.

The statements, Howard said, were based on Grasso benefitting from two homestead exemptions at the same time.

"Doing so is unlawful and is known as property tax fraud. Even in the light most favorable to Grasso, (the documents) show Grasso had multiple, simultaneous homeowner's exemptions," Howard wrote. "Grasso attests there actually was a factual basis to assert that he committed tax fraud, and that these (statements) are true. This does not and cannot show actual malice."

Grasso, a lawyer, also said Mottl defamed him repeatedly by calling him a "mobster." Mottl used the term against Grasso during Village Board meetings. Such language drew reprimands from the board, which said Mottl was attacking the mayor's Italian heritage. Mottl denied the allegation.

Howard's filing said the allegation of "mobster" was based on Grasso's connection to Filippo "Gigi" Rovito, owner of Burr Ridge's Capri Ristorante.

According to Burr Ridge police, Rovito is a convicted felon with multiple convictions. Court records show the victim of the 17-year-old Rovito's 1991 sex crime was a 14-year-old girl. He was released from prison in 2002 after about five years, according to a decade-old memo from Police Chief John Madden.

In 2018, Rovito donated $5,000 to Grasso's unsuccessful 2018 attorney general campaign. But the mayor returned the money after a downstate TV station called the donation into question. The station said Rovito was named in FBI mafia investigations.

Mottl's attorney, Howard, said Grasso failed to prove that Mottl showed actual malice in making his statements.