A Gifts-For-Praise Ban In Burr Ridge?

BURR RIDGE, IL – A Burr Ridge official said Friday he would back an ordinance that would ban giving gifts to those who provide either positive or negative testimony to the Village Board.

In an email to Patch, Trustee Guy Franzese said such a rule should apply to offers of gifts in return for letters and emails to the village and comments at the village's public meetings.

He said he was not a lawyer, so he would ask the village's attorney whether Burr Ridge had the power to enact such a ban.

Franzese said he would update Patch on the attorney's answer.

In the fall, Burr Ridge-based McNaughton Development offered gift cards to residents in two of the subdivisions it built. The cards would be in return for praise of its work at village meetings and in emails.

This was part of its effort to persuade the village to approve its proposed 20-home development near 87th Street and County Line Road.

Earlier this month, the Plan Commission recommended against the project. McNaughton, which also hired a former mayor to promote its plan, withdrew its application.

A number of village officials criticized the offer of gift cards, which would have been for Burr Ridge's Capri Ristorante.

Franzese spoke out against the offer in strong terms.

"While the practice of rewarding someone with a gift card for that person speaking positively about a proposed development is not illegal, in my opinion, it should be illegal," Franzese said in an email to Patch earlier this month. "This practice is unethical."

McNaughton later released a statement to Patch saying the offer "may not have been in the best business judgment."