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Two Blokes Jun 24 -
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BURR RIDGE, IL – A Burr Ridge resident has sued a village trustee over his Facebook page, saying the official is breaking state law by promoting political campaigns. Last month, resident Patricia Davis filed a lawsuit in DuPage County Court against Trustee Tony Schiappa. Schiappa has not returned Patch's message for comment from last week. Trustee Tony Schiappa maintains a page that is titled, "Tony Schiappa, Burr Ridge Trustee." The page, which is categorized as "Government & Public Service," contains an introduction that says he is "honored to be one of the trustees of the Village of Burr Ridge." In the spring, he promoted on the Facebook page the candidacies of Arlene Cabana and Baron Leacock, who were running for the Lyons Township High School and Hinsdale High School District 86 boards, respectively. Illinois law bars government employees and officers of any town from taking part in political activities in their official roles. In the lawsuit, Davis said Schiappa represents himself as a government actor authorized to speak on behalf of the village. "Schiappa identifies himself as an officer of the Village and, therefore, is subject to its policies, which preclude political activities such as electioneering," Davis said in the lawsuit. She said Schiappa has endorsed candidates on the page as far back as 2015, which is when he was elected to the Village Board. Schiappa, Davis said, also maintains a personal Facebook page, but does not post campaign endorsements there. Protected free speech allows him to promote campaigns on his personal page, she said. In a statement to Patch, Davis said the village did not take seriously her concern about Schiappa's page. "I would be willing to drop this suit if Mr. Schiappa removes the offensive campaign endorsements from his government Facebook page and refrains from doing so in future," she said. She is seeking a court order banning Schiappa from posting political endorsements on the Facebook page in question and removing all the others. When Patch wrote about the issue in May, Schiappa said in an email that he was the only administrator for the page titled, "Tony Schiappa, Burr Ridge Trustee." "The Facebook account does not have a link to the Village of Burr Ridge Web site or Facebook page. My Facebook account has no affiliation with the Village of Burr Ridge," he said. But Alisa Kaplan, executive director of Chicago-based Reform for Illinois, disagreed. She said Schiappa "clearly presents it as being an official page and therefore that he is acting in his official capacity on it."
