Here’s some will go back for more:
(no link)
38 of my law clients have city biz: Burke - Alderman held 34 stocks that each made at least $5,000
Chicago Sun-Times (IL) - Saturday, May 3, 2008
Author: Fran Spielman, The Chicago Sun-Times
Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) lost eight blue-chip clients last year, but replaced them with 10 new ones and still has 38 law clients that did business with the city or other local government agencies, according to his annual ethics statement.
In addition to his booming law business, the City Council’s Finance Committee chairman also had another banner year for investments in 2007.
For the second straight year, Burke reported having stock in 34 companies that produced at least $5,000 in income last year. That’s twice as many such stocks as he held two years ago, when Burke unloaded his Wal-Mart stock just before the City Council approved the big-box minimum wage ordinance subsequently vetoed by Mayor Daley.
Several big-time players disappeared from Burke ‘s client roster as the economy turned downward. They include: Admiral Heating & Ventilating; Centrum Properties; Dominick’s; Fitzsimmons Surgical; K-Five Construction; the Pittsfield Building; Prairie Material Sales, and WBEZ Alliance.
But Burke more than made up for the loss by gaining 10 new clients that do business with the city: Albertson’s; Chicago Journeyman Plumbers Union; Imperial Realty; Marvel Group; Seaway National Bank; Standard Bank & Trust; Walgreens; Walsh Construction; William Wrigley Jr. Co., and Zemsky’s.
Burke is Chicago’s most powerful alderman and the husband of Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke .
He has stated repeatedly that he does not represent any of his clients in their dealings with City Hall. His firm specializes in representing clients appealing property taxes before the county.
Eleven years ago, the Chicago Sun-Times ran a series of stories detailing the alleged conflicts between Burke ‘s position as Finance Committee chairman and his private role as a lawyer.
The newspaper disclosed how Burke used a rare parliamentary maneuver to change the record of four past Council votes involving his airline clients dating back as far as seven years.
(snip)
..
In November’s only Supreme Court race, Justice Ann McGlone Burke of Chicago, a Democrat, was retained. She did not face an opponent, perhaps because she is a highly rated jurist. Or perhaps because her husband, veteran Chicago Alderman Ed Burke, controls all judicial slating in Cook County.
From:
http://nalert.blogspot.com/2008/03/chicago-democrats-and-chicago-mob.html
Most of America thinks Mayor Daley runs Chicago.Those on the inside know that’s not the case.The man who runs Chicago from behind the scenes,since the early 1990’s, is Alderman Ed Burke,Chairman of Chicago’s Finance Committee.Burke went from being an errand boy for Alderman Roti to the most powerful elected figure in the state of Illinois.In a corrupt state like Illinois,the guy with the most money in his campaign fund is the man at the top.In Illinois,it’s not Chicago’s Mayor Daley or Governor Blagojevich but Alderman Burke.
From:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/rezko/588442,watchdog04.stnghttp:/
...The much-conflicted alderman says he meant to sit out the vote. He’d even sent a letter to the Chicago Board of Ethics in August 2003 saying he would abstain from any Council votes on Rezko’s plan to put as many as 5,000 homes and stores on a 62-acre site along the Chicago River at Roosevelt Road.
But then Rezko’s project came before the City Council on March 31, 2004, and Burke cast his vote — in favor.
“An error occurred,” the alderman said in a written response to questions, “and Rule 14 was not invoked.”
That would be the Council rule under which aldermen are supposed to abstain from a vote when they have a conflict of interest.
Of course, it’s up to the alderman who has a conflict to invoke the rule.
Burke’s legal work for Rezko’s Rezmar Corp. is referenced in records on the 62-acre site Rezko wanted to develop with $140 million in city subsidies. The project fizzled, and Rezmar sold the land...