Burr Ridge Official Wants No Meeting On Columbus Day

BURR RIDGE, IL — Burr Ridge Trustee Zach Mottl, whom the Village Board has twice reprimanded for using what trustees considered an ethnic slur against Italian Americans, is asking to reschedule the board's meeting on Monday, which is Columbus Day.

In an email to village officials Wednesday, Mottl said he wanted to celebrate Italian American heritage on Columbus Day.

"I propose that we properly honor the contributions made to America by the many fine and upstanding Americans of Italian heritage and cancel Monday's board meeting or postpone it to another day," Mottl said.

At the same time, he said, "while it’s important that we celebrate and honor the contributions of Italian Americans on that day, I also think it’s important to celebrate the many different backgrounds and heritages that make up our great USA.

"However, Monday happens to be the day that’s designated for Columbus," Mottl said. "So we should cancel the board meeting in honor and at the same time we must figure out how to do a better job, in BR, to honor all of the diverse and wonderful heritages and backgrounds in America and Burr Ridge."

He said his proposal is "something we can easily agree on."

Since the beginning of the year, the board has adopted two resolutions of censure against Mottl. The trustees said he used an Italian American slur against Mayor Gary Grasso and Trustee Tony Schiappa, both Italian Americans, during a meeting. Mottl denied he meant the word in question as a slur.

Mottl has been missing meetings. He has tried to connect by phone, but the board won't let him participate, saying he must either attend in person or via Zoom. He would not say Wednesday whether he would attend next week.

In a text message to Patch, Grasso said Mottl failed to properly attend two September board meetings and that Mottl wanted to cancel Monday's meeting "on the pretext" that it was Columbus Day.

"Mottl has openly disparaged my Italian heritage with ethnic slurs at board meetings earlier this year," Grasso said. "Now he's trying to pander to Italian Americans because he may run for re-election."

"The best way to honor our heritages is to perform the services we were elected to perform," the mayor said.

The village will hold the meeting as scheduled and recognize traditional Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day, Grasso said.