'Ridiculous' Requests Upset Burr Ridge Officials

BURR RIDGE, IL — A Burr Ridge resident has cost the village at least $54,000 over the last few years for public records requests, a village official says. This information upset the Village Board.

At this week's board meeting, Trustee Tony Schiappa said many of the village's Freedom of Information Act requests were coming from one person. He called the requests "ridiculous" and "wasteful."

He and other trustees did not mention the resident's name, but they were likely referring to former Trustee Zach Mottl. In the months before the April village election, trustees highlighted what they said were the costs of Mottl's records requests. He lost his re-election.

Schiappa asked Village Administrator Evan Walter whether he had quantified the costs of the resident's requests.

Walter had the numbers at his fingertips.

"Since this person's first FOIA request a few years ago, we have spent over $31,000 on legal fees, as the person has threatened litigation against the village. We work with our village attorney to ensure that our responses are accurate to the extent that the law requires," he said.

He said the requests have cost the village more than 500 hours of staff time, which, at a rate of $55 an hour, amounts to $23,000. By the village's number, it has spent at least $54,000.

Schiappa asked whether Burr Ridge had a way of publishing the cost information for the one requester on the village's website — an idea that Mayor Gary Grasso liked.

Walter said some towns post the names of requesters and the nature of their requests online. He said he had just seen a new product that could do that.

Mike Durkin, the village's attorney, said the village could put the list on the website, but not single out one person.

"That way if this person is a repeat requester, the public will understand the frequency of those requests," Durkin said.

Trustee Guy Franzese said the 500 hours of staff time is taking away from the village's other responsibilities.

"It bothers me that some of the requests may be frivolous in nature," Franzese said. "I think the residents need to know."

In his last year and a half as a trustee, Mottl was censured by the Village Board six times. Some reprimands were for calling the mayor and others names that were seen as slurs against Italian Americans.

In recent months, Mottl has turned over the results of some of his requests to Patch. In one case, the information showed that Grasso informed his son, who works for a real estate services firm, about a possible business opportunity involving the vacant TCF Bank property in town. Another request revealed information about how the mayor would approach the redevelopment of County Line Square.

Before the election, the village released information that it said showed that the taxpayers had spent $60,000 over 15 months in dealing with Mottl's public records requests and legal matters initiated by him.

At the time, Mottl said many of the legal expenditures in question were for the trustees' censure resolutions against him, efforts to block and remove him from meetings, and ways to frustrate his public records requests. He also said the lawyers were overcharging the village.

"If you disagree with me, fine. But let me talk. Let me sound stupid if that's what you think I am. Let me look ridiculous. Why spend all this money to shut me up?" Mottl said.

Grasso disagreed.

"Very little comparably was spent on the censure motions compared to his 24 FOIA requests in the last 15 or so months," the mayor said in an email to Patch at the time. "The more relevant point is that Mottl also caused those expenses by his disrespectful conduct at every turn to our police, staff and even a resident in 2019 and 2020. He did those things, not me or any trustee. The other trustees all voted unanimously each time to censure him for his bad acts — six times. That's on Mottl — no one else."

Mottl voted against the censures.

In an email to Patch, Mottl said it was a problem when government is griping about the cost of openness and transparency. He said it showed how poorly and wasteful the village is run.

"Transparency is free. You either have the records or you don’t. The only reasons to involve lawyers like this is because they are afraid they are doing something wrong or they know they’re doing something wrong...," Mottl said. "A competent and well-trained FOIA officer on staff, like most responsible towns have, can answer dozens of FOIAs every day without a lawyer and in a very short amount of time. Burr Ridge is at no risk of litigation if they would just turn over the responsive records, which belong to the public anyway."