In case you’ve been wondering, I’ve been following the biggest story in Chicago news, the arrest of Chicago Alderman Ed Burke, probably the second most powerful man in Chicago, second only to the mayor, on charges of extortion and attempted extortion. ABC 7 Chicago reports:
CHICAGO (WLS) — Longtime 14th Ward Aldermen Ed Burke has resigned as chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee, according to a statement from Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Burke’s resignation comes a day after he was charged with one count of attempted extortion.
Mayor Emanuel’s statement said, “I have spoken with Alderman Ed Burke, who agreed that the best course of action is for him to resign as Chairman of the Committee on Finance. Because of his affection for the city, deep respect for the institution of City Council and the needs of his constituents, Alderman Burke took the appropriate step to put the interests of the city above all else.”
Finance Committee Vice Chairman 40th Ward Alderman Pat O’Connor will take over Burke’s responsibilities on the committee.
Meanwhile, Alderman Burke is promising to fight this in court and he maintains his innocence. In a surprising move, Burke addressed the charge as he arrived home Thursday night.
“I look forward to trying this case in court,” Burke said. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
The feds disagree. In their 37-page complaint, prosecutors said the powerful alderman “engaged in attempted extortion…” by illegally trying to steer business to his law firm, which specializes in property tax appeals.
You can probably imagine my views on this subject. I don’t think there are enough FBI agents and federal attorneys to investigate all of the corrupt and criminal Chicago politicians. You may also wonder how I reconcile my preference for local government over the federal government with the events reported. My answer is two-fold: I don’t think the federal government is any better, it’s worse if anything and farther away. And I don’t believe it’s just Chicago. I think that all big governments are corrupt.
And what to say about politicians having interests in law firms that specialize in property tax appeals? That’s corrupt on its face.
I have commented before that Ald Burke and my paths briefly crossed some 30ish years ago. He was shady then (although our cross did not involve anything more than payroll padding), and I’m sure he’s shady now. But he’s a Chicago pol, so……..
Give him a fair trial, and then hang him……
They’re only taking him down now because he’s old and past his prime. And to take down the mayoral candidate associated with him. They didn’t have the courage to take him on when he was in his prime, when it would have mattered more to the political health of the city.
When you pull a nail out of a board, the hole still remains. It takes more than that to restore the the board.
Some familial context: Ed’s wife is on the Illinois Supreme Court. His daughter headed a state agency until retiring to open a law firm specializing in real estate tax assessments. His son manages homeland security for the County. His brother was a long-time state representative, who lost a primary last year.
Power, you can’t take it with you.
Oops, his daughter left to work at her dad’s law firm.
We actually tolerate it, and people actively defend it (the family involvement) almost everywhere AFAICT. We have lots of political activists and politicians married to judges. Lots of politicians with family and friends running law offices doing business with the government, or the businesses doing business with the government. The list goes on. We now tolerate it at even the highest levels of government, so I am pretty skeptical about this changing anytime soon.
I was part of a small group that met with one of our Senators about 10 years ago. Being doctors we asked about malpractice reform. The Senator pointed out that about 10-20% of sitting senators had family or close friends in law practices that would be negatively affected with reform.
Steve
Oh, p’shaw, Shaw. Next thing you know you’re going to be telling me Ritchie or Lisa capitalized on their papas……….
My question to Dave is whether he thinks that this represents a real power shakeup, per Tars. I think that’s fanciful. Just rearranging the chairs….
@steve, this is not just people knowing people or family they help. Burke was the chairman of the Democratic judicial slating committee, most of the judges in the county had to kiss his ring. From the Supreme Court, his wife also appointed judicial vacancies in the county.
“It would not be inaccurate to conclude that 70-80 percent of all Cook County’s judges got there because of Burke’s committee’s slating, or Illinois Supreme Court (and Burke’s wife’s) appointments.”
http://www.russstewart.com/articles/2014/04-02-2014.html
Kinda makes me miss Mike Royko.
I guess it’s no surprise it’s the Feds that are on this and not state law enforcement.
Hopefully, he’s the first of many if even half the allegations are true.
Considering that the local Boston FBI was running Whitey Bulger back in the 60s/70s, why do you think the Chicago FBI is not colluding with Burke?
It should be clear by now that the FBI, CIA, DOJ, DHS are utterly corrupt.
Utterly corrupt:
Yes. Everyone now acts as if these accusations are news. Certainly not news to anyone in city government.