Melrose Park and its mayor are trying to gut a lawsuit, which accuses them of pestering a family through selective code enforcement, saying, among other things, Mayor Ron Serpico can't be sued for the village's alleged campaign against the family, because Serpico is not responsible for enacting the ordinances the village says the family violated.
On Feb. 22 in Chicago federal court, Michael Cozzi, along with his parents, Vincent and Angeline Cozzi, sued Melrose Park and its mayor, Ron Serpico, claiming their constitutional rights were trampled by the village's enforcement against them of "bogus" parking and nuisance ordinances. The Cozzi family said they have received citations amounting to thousands of dollars, which they have not paid and led to a $15,500 lien.
Michael serves as live-in caretaker for his parents, who are in their 80s and moved to Melrose Park in 2019, according to their suit.
In 2020 the Cozzis refused the village's request to remove six plastic lawn chairs from their front yard, then began receiving citations for creating nuisances and unsanitary conditions. Some citations were for putting Christmas decorations on the outside of their home and for placing an unspecified political flag and signs on their property.
According to the suit, code enforcement officers "improperly surveilled" the Cozzi house and told the Cozzis the citations "are from the mayor, not us."
In addition, Michael said he was harassed with parking tickets.
Michael took the issue to social media and started attending village board meetings to air his gripes. When he tried to speak at a January 2021 meeting, which was recorded on video, Serpico told him, "Do me a fucking favor and sit down and shut the fuck up."
At a Feb. 4 meeting, Serpico shouted at Michael, saying he was a "fucking shine" — a slur against black people — and he and his parents lived "like a fucking hillbilly." Video of the tirade went viral. A village spokesman later said Serpico regretted the remarks, but Michael had "repeatedly harassed" Serpico and the board.
Serpico has been mayor 20 years, and enjoys ties to the influential, including Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch and elements of the political machine of former House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Michael Cozzi further claimed he was hounded by obscene voice mail and text messages, which threatened harm. Michael also said a window on his car was smashed.
On April 28, the village filed a motion to dismiss some of the suit's six counts.
The village argued the Cozzis did not back up their claim Serpico is the "final policymaker" regarding the ordinances they allegedly violated. Rather, according to the village, the Cozzis themselves acknowledged in their suit, "Defendant Serpico’s duties as Mayor are executive, not legislative. He has no legal authority to make up laws on his own to promulgate municipal violations in the Village."
The village contended the suit suffers from several other defects, such as failing to show the enforcement activities were part of a pattern or custom. In the village's view, the suit also failed to demonstrate the village did not properly train and discipline its officers.
According to the village, another problem is the Cozzis said their "good reputation" was damaged. The village contended alleged reputational harm does not fall under constitutional protection.
The village claimed the Cozzi family also came up short when they failed to show Serpico was personally involved in allegedly depriving them of their rights, especially their right to due process. In this connection, the village said a hearing officer employed by the village entered a default judgment against the family for the citations, not Serpico personally.
The village further denied front yard lawn chairs and outside Christmas decorations are safeguarded by the right to free speech, as maintained by the Cozzis.
"It is difficult to see what idea or message, within the context of First Amendment protection, is accomplished by 'Christmas decorations and lights,'" the village contended.
Another flaw in the suit, in the village's eyes, is the Cozzis named the village's Department of Administrative Hearings and Department of Code Enforcement as defendants. The departments are not a "suable entitiy much like a municipal police or fire department is not a suable entity separate from the municipality," the village said, adding, "They are not entities independent of the Village with their own legal existence."
The Cozzi family seek unspecified damages and want audits of Melrose Park’s code enforcement and parking ticket policies.
U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger is presiding over the case.
Serpico and Melrose Park are defended by Cynthia Grandfield and K. Austin Zimmer, of Del Galdo Law Group, of Berwyn.
The Cozzis are represented by Gianna Scatchell, Cass T. Casper and Navarrio Wilkerson, of Disparti Law Group, of Chicago.