00-3406 & 01-2337 Cruz v. Town of Cicero

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“Given the evidence in the record of the unprecedented, selectively applied, and substantively questionable standards that Loren-Maltese imposed on Gonzalez shortly after Gonzalez attempted to ‘take care of her’ with a bouquet of flowers, a reasonable jury could also have concluded (as this one did) that the trouble the Gonzalez parties had obtaining certificates of compliance for their units in early 1999 had nothing to do with a lack of ‘condominium approval’ or available parking. Instead, these troubles stemmed from Loren-Maltese’s desire to punish Gonzalez for not repaying her ‘help’ on the WIC lease with a significant financial contribution of some kind.

“Hostility stemming from a person’s failure to contribute to a politician’s campaign fund, or otherwise reward her personally for permitting access to government services, falls in the category of ‘totally illegitimate animus’; this motivation was not related to Loren-Maltese’s duties as Town President and it is not a reason to deny certificates of compliance that is rationally related to a legitimate government interest. As Cicero argues, there is certainly evidence in the record which, if believed by a jury, would have put this case in the category of a run- of-the-mill zoning dispute. But the jury was not persuaded by that evidence and we cannot say that its decision was unreasonable.”

Affirmed.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Lindberg, J., Diane P. Wood, J.