State Criticizes Burr Ridge Over Records Request

BURR RIDGE, IL – The Attorney's General Office on Thursday found Burr Ridge failed to conduct a reasonable search for records in response to a resident's request.

In August, a resident sought documents relating to an "EDC meeting" that was listed among the village's expenses.

Village documents show a meal expense for what was labeled as a meeting of the EDC, officially known as the Economic Development Committee.

Under state law, the committee must advertise its meetings so that residents have an opportunity to attend.

However, the committee did not do so for the so-called meeting on June 19. It turned out that it wasn't a meeting of the committee

Rather, the get-together involved three officials – Village Administrator Evan Walter, Mayor Gary Grasso and Trustee Russell Smith, according to the village. Only Smith belongs to the nine-member committee.

The village told the attorney general that it checked the emails and documents of Walter and two village employees, but not Grasso or Smith.

The attorney general determined the village's searches were too narrow to find responsive records about the gathering.

The attorney general requested the village ask Grasso and Smith to search their personal and public devices for any records relating to the June 19 gathering at Patti's Sunrise Café.

Then Burr Ridge should issue another response to the resident, the attorney general said.

Asked about the attorney general's letter Thursday, Grasso said in an email to Patch, "We certainly respect the AG (and) will make the requested search and produce any responsive documents."

One of the stumbling blocks for Burr Ridge and other towns is that their elected officials often use private emails. So employees handling records requests rely on the officials to search their emails.

Public records show that when Walter emailed elected officials over the summer, he used personal addresses for everyone but Grasso and Trustee Anita Mital.

Many entities, including the city of Elmhurst, have encouraged elected officials to use their public email addresses. That makes producing records in response to requests much easier for employees.