Tentative agreement in Naperville councilman's civil rights lawsuit

A third straight loss in pretrial court rulings may have sounded the death knell for Naperville City Councilman Richard Furstenau's lawsuit.

A tentative agreement would call for Furstenau to drop what is left of his federal civil rights complaint if those he sued agree not to try to recoup an estimated $1 million in legal fees or seek other sanctions, sources told the Daily Herald.

They said the city council will be informed of the settlement when members meet at 3 p.m. Monday in closed session before its budget workshop. The deal is expected to be finalized afterward.

All parties involved in the suit will be barred from making any public comment beyond a joint news release that will be issued as early as Monday, the sources said.

Furstenau sued the city after a Jan. 18, 2006 battery arrest in which a local police officer, Mike Hull, accused the council member of shoving him during a parade celebrating the city's 175th anniversary.

Furstenau was acquitted of the misdemeanor, but city officials refused his demand that the police officers involved in his arrest apologize and be disciplined. Furstenau also was unsuccessful in convincing the city to pay him nearly $130,000 for attorney fees and toward his failed Illinois Senate campaign, which he said was derailed by his arrest.

Afterward, Oct. 31, 2007, Furstenau filed a federal lawsuit against the city and three police officers - Hull, Chief David Dial and Detective Mike Cross - alleging the arrest was in retaliation for Furstenau's scrutinizing of police spending.

Furstenau later added former City Manager Peter Burchard, police union President Joe Matchett and city attorney Margo Ely to the suit for their critical statements of the councilman's behavior since his 1999 election.

"My hope is this is settled amicably and quickly, but whatever the duration, I'm not going to back away," Furstenau said during a news conference announcing his federal lawsuit.

But, 2.5 years later, after recent court rulings in which all but Dial, Hull and Cross were dismissed and Furstenau was required to undergo a mental exam, he has agreed to end the legal saga without a trial, sources said.

In his most recent ruling against the suit, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Norgle's comment that "public officials may need to have a thicker skin than the ordinary citizen when it comes to attacks on their views," seemed telling. In fact, one of Furstenau's lawyers even said the loss was not surprising.