Burr Ridge Trustee Asked To Resign

BURR RIDGE, IL — The Burr Ridge Village Board barred one its members, Zach Mottl, from participating in a meeting by phone last week, a practice routinely allowed in the past. Yet members and one of their wives spent more than half of the meeting discussing why they believed Mottl is bad for the village, with some calling for his resignation.

For months, Mayor Gary Grasso has sparred with Mottl, whom he defeated in last April's election. A few months after the election, the mayor sued the trustee, accusing him of defamatory statements about Grasso's use of the homestead property tax exemption. And in November, Grasso persuaded the board to censure Mottl, saying his comments had demeaned village staff.

At last week's board meeting, Patricia Schiappa, wife of Trustee Tony Schiappa, took issue with Mottl's statements at a meeting in January before he voted against her appointment to a village committee dealing with the U.S. Census.

Before the vote, Mottl said he had concerns with Patricia Schiappa, saying he had seen how "vicious" she had been with people around town and alleging she had gotten in trouble on social media. He said he could think of no reason she had been nominated other than she was a trustee's wife. "I don't think she has the right temperament," he said.

During public input last week, Patricia Schiappa called the remarks false, defamatory and misogynistic. She said this was typical of Mottl, whom she accused of retaliating against Grasso campaign supporters such as herself. She said she had a constitutional right to back the candidate of her choice.

"I will wait for his retraction and apology from him individually and in his capacity as a trustee representing the village of Burr Ridge," she said.

In an interview this week, Mottl said he stood by his criticism of Patricia Schiappa. During the campaign, he said Schiappa attacked him and his family's business by posting documents from out-of-state litigation involving a family dispute in connection with the business. "It had nothing to do with me," he said.

He said he was fine with Patricia Schiappa attacking him, but not his family.

At last week's meeting, Trustee Schiappa, who was not at the session where Mottl leveled the criticism, said the trustee's remarks about his wife, a local volunteer, were "childish and deplorable." He said Mottl only wants to hear from people who agree with him. Like others, he accused Mottl of being a bully and demanded his resignation.

Schiappa also said said Mottl has broken his self-imposed rule against voting on matters involving campaign donors. With the help of village staff, Schappa displayed a copy of the Aug. 26, 2019, meeting minutes on a screen. The document showed Mottl joined all the other trustees in supporting a special-use permit involving a part of the Burr Ridge Village Center complex. The Village Center, though, had given Mottl's mayoral campaign a $1,000 contribution about five months before, according to the state Board of Elections. Grasso received $1,500.

On Mottl's vote, Schiappa said, "Do I think his vote was bought? I don't think so."

Rather, Schiappa said, Mottl voted for the permit because it was the right thing to do for the village. He also said Mottl abstained from later votes connected with the Village Center.

Last month, Mottl voted against the final plan for a subdivision because he said former Mayor Mickey Straub had taken a campaign contribution from the developer without disclosing it to the board.

Mayor Grasso said Mottl's comments about others accepting campaign donations were demeaning.

"No one believes that anyone's vote is bought," the mayor said. "Trustee Mottl has repeatedly attacked people on the board for accepting donations."

In an interview, Mottl said he didn't recall his reasoning for participating in the August 2019 vote. He said it was either because he felt the issue did not benefit the Village Center owner or that he somehow missed the issue because it was part of a larger package of items that board members voted on.

He said he would not say the former mayor's vote was bought, but said an "appearance of impropriety" existed. He said he proposed an ethics ordinance requiring trustees to either abstain from votes involving campaign donors or disclose them beforehand.

At the meeting, Grasso said he took exception to Mottl's charges of corruption in the village. He said he had referred those charges to the police chief and the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office for investigation. He said Mottl has failed to provide authorities with information he may have, which the mayor said indicated the trustee had nothing. In the later interview, Mottl said he had spoken with the state's attorney's investigator and has been trying to contact him again about the status of the inquiry.

Mottl has alleged that Grasso gave favorable treatment to a local liquor license-holding business when he was mayor the first time more than a decade ago. The manager committed a violent sex crime in 1991 as a 17-year-old and was barred from serving in the role of manager, but through a process under state law, the man proved his rehabilitation and was allowed to take the job. Grasso said "he came to know the man," so Trustee Al Paveza took over the case. The man donated to Grasso's unsuccessful attorney general campaign years later.

Grasso said the village followed the letter of the law through the entire process. "This is America. We give people second chances, third chances," he said.

Trustee Guy Franzese said he had seen how Mottl has "badgered and abused our staff" and criticized a volunteer, Patricia Schiappa.

"This behavior is abhorrent," he said. "These insults and this bullying must stop. If you can't stop it, you need to resign."

The mayor also called on Mottl to resign.

"From my perspective, Zach Mottl is a bully. And as my father taught me as a young man, there is only one way to handle a bully — hit him back," Grasso said. "The residents of this community need to step up also. This has gone on in the board room for far too long. We have been far too tolerant of Zach Mottl."

In the interview, Mottl noted the board's failure to let him take part.

"It's disingenuous to block me from the meeting and then talk about me. If they wanted me reactions, they should have let me participate," he said.

The next village board meeting is Monday, but Grasso said he would be unable to attend. The next meeting after that is Feb. 24. It could be more than a month before Grasso and Mottl will have seen each other.