Burr Ridge Officials Spar Over Trustee's Address

BURR RIDGE, IL — Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso told the Village Board on Tuesday that a moving van has been seen outside Trustee Zach Mottl's house and that there has been no water usage. So he asked for the trustee's home address at Tuesday's Village Board meeting.

The discussion became heated, with Mottl making suggestions about Grasso's personal life and accusing the mayor of "property tax fraud." In response, other trustees asked the mayor to immediately expel Mottl from the remote meeting, but Grasso did not.

When Grasso asked Mottl for his home address, the trustee would only say his residency has not changed. Mottl then asked Grasso for his address, who gave it. He said he has lived at 6030 S. Grant St. since 1995.

In an email to Patch earlier in the day, Mottl said he would give his new address to the village once the sale of his townhouse closes. He accepted an offer in late April, and the property is marked as contingent. The townhouse is at 7908 Garfield Ave.

"I have lived in the same residence I always have," Mottl said.

Ownership of a residence is not enough to allow someone to serve as a trustee. An official must actually live in the residence, although it has been difficult to prove otherwise in Illinois courts.

Mottl, whom Grasso defeated in last year's mayoral election, said it was wrong for the village to spend so much time on the issue of his residence during a time of uncertainty related to the pandemic.

"You are improperly using village funds to cover your wayward personal vendetta," Mottl told Grasso.

When Trustee Tony Schiappa told Mottl to answer the question, Mottl then inquired about Grasso's personal life, prompting the calls to expel him from the remote meeting.

Mottl said he was not eager to provide his residency information because the windows at his house and company have been broken. He suggested Grasso's "goons" and "mobster buddies" were responsible for the damage. Mottl has been censured twice before for repeatedly calling Grasso a mobster, which the board has called an ethnic slur against the Italian-American mayor. Mottl has denied it was a slur.

Mottl again accused the mayor of property tax fraud. He has criticized Grasso for taking two homestead tax exemptions — one at his Burr Ridge house and another for a home in Chicago. Mottl called it "property tax fraud," alleging the mayor cheated DuPage County taxpayers out of money. Grasso said he never sought a homestead exemption in Chicago, saying it was the result of a mistake in the Cook County assessor's office. Under state law, a person can only have one homestead exemption.

Tuesday's meeting agenda indicated the board would vote on directing Mottl to give his address. At the mayor's direction earlier this month, the village clerk sought address information from every trustee. In response to the clerk's email, Mottl would only say his residence has not changed, but did not give a specific address.

Grasso noted Mottl's email to Patch indicated the trustee would provide his new address when the sale of the townhouse closes. The mayor said the village could wait. Mottl said that sounded reasonable, adding the whole endeavor was "an incredible waste of time."

The board voted 5-1 to delay action, with Mottl dissenting.