It was a conviction not just of Ed Burke, but the old ‘Chicago way’ of trading favors for political gain. Jurors finally said ‘No more.’
It wasn’t unusual for former Ald. Edward M. Burke to give an impromptu lesson on Chicago’s past and its colorful characters during his more than half-century at City Hall.
Burke, who sat on the City Council for 54 years, was never going to be relegated to the footnotes of Chicago history. He controlled which Cook County judges would be slated, ran the City Council’s powerful Finance Committee and, as a private lawyer, catered to wealthy interests seeking big cuts in their property taxes — including, at one point, companies owned by Donald Trump.
All of that made his name synonymous with power and influence for far too long for Burke to ever be a footnote in Chicago political history. For much of his career, he was considered by many to be the most powerful alderman on the council.
But with a federal jury’s guilty verdict on racketeering charges and other counts on Thursday, the former 14th Ward alderman earned another title: convicted felon. He became yet another corrupt politician in a long, sorry line of at least 38 other council members who have been convicted since 1972. Editorial
This is not a record to make the city proud.
Chicagoans, and other Illinoisans, have grown accustomed to crooked politicians, perhaps even blasé. But it was, we hope, a monumental step toward reform when a jury of nine women and three men found Burke guilty on 13 of 14 counts of racketeering conspiracy, bribery and extortion.
