As I began counting blessings in the run-up to Thanksgiving this year, a thought occurred to me: I wonder if it’s uncharitable to give thanks that former Ald. Edward Burke is finally on trial.
Justice has not come swiftly enough to the formerly very powerful dean of the Chicago City Council. Five years have passed since federal authorities raided Burke’s City Hall office and their investigation of Burke became public knowledge. While it’s true that justice delayed is justice denied, there’s still something to be said for justice applied, even after it took too long.
Burke defense lawyer Chris Gair in his opening statement declared it the honor of his career to represent “this good man.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Chapman wasn’t buying the “good man” part. “Bribe-taker,” he called Burke. Also: “extortionist.”
A jury will decide who’s right, of course. And as a believer in government that’s held accountable for its actions, to me, it almost does not matter what the jury decides.
Whether or not he’s guilty of the 14 federal counts against him, Burke in his decades in elected office fell short of what voters have a right to expect from the people they put in positions of public trust. Burke’s conduct was fraught with personal enrichment and abuses of power, some of which remain legal thanks to weaknesses in the laws of Chicago and the state of Illinois.
A casual, corrupt contempt toward public duty is a not surprising result of such lax standards of public service. It’s evident in the cavalier way Burke played the voters for patsies, leveraging the job they gave him to build a fortune through his real estate law practice.
[ David Greising: As ex-Ald. Edward Burke faces trial, Chicagoans are told yet again that it was ‘just politics’ ]
“So, did we, uh, land the tuna?” Burke asked of Ald. Danny Solis, then chair of the council’s zoning committee, about what prosecutors say were efforts to hold up rezoning of the Old Post Office building until developers signed on as clients of his Klafter & Burke law firm.
A few months later, Burke allegedly told Solis the finance committee wouldn’t approve tax breaks for the post office building because the developers still hadn’t hired Klafter & Burke. “The cash register has not rung yet,” he said, according to evidence Solis collected for the feds after admitting to his own public corruption.
Former Chicago Ald. Edward Burke leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago during a lunch break in his corruption trial on Nov. 17, 2023. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
We’ve heard how Burke allegedly blocked a Burger King driveway permit in his ward, again because the investors weren’t clients. He even threatened to block a sorely needed fee increase for the Field Museum until the daughter of a friend could get an internship, prosecutors say.
Conduct in office need not be illegal in order to be wrong — as Burke’s track record makes abundantly clear.
Soon after the federal investigation of Burke became known, my organization, the Better Government Association, exposed Burke’s abuses in the way he carried his clients’ interests into the City Council chamber itself.
Nearly 500 times over eight years, Burke chaired committee hearings, engaged in debate during council meetings or took other public action on matters affecting his law firm clients’ direct interests, the reporting by the BGA and public radio station WBEZ-FM 91.5 found. Only at the very end, when it came time for a vote, would Burke recuse himself.
“King of Recusals” is what the story called him.
[ Corruption trial of ex-Ald. Edward Burke: What you need to know ]
Was such conduct illegal when Burke engaged in it? No. Was it unethical and a wanton conflict of interest? Of course.
The rules have been tightened in the years since the federal probe came to light and the BGA published its findings, but the reforms still have not gone far enough. Aldermen have lost the power to block licenses and permits in their wards, true. But the most powerful vestige of aldermanic privilege — the ability to block zoning changes — remains in their hands.
New ethics standards adopted last year now require aldermen to recuse themselves, including not participating in committee hearings, if their business interests or those of family members are affected by matters under discussion. The city’s ethics policies encourage disclosure of less obvious concerns, such as conflicts involving distant relatives or close friends.
A cleaner fix would be a complete ban on outside business interests that create conflicts, and the voluntary recusals could be made mandatory. City law also could require public disclosure of potential conflict of interest with any matter before the council — not just matters over which aldermen might have jurisdiction.
Justice is coming for Burke. But that’s just him. Chicago’s long, sorry track record indicates other corrupt actors will emerge, with the lack of conscience and willingness to abuse the public trust, unless we prevent them from doing so.
The opening of the Burke trial is a reminder of how much remains to be done. As regards the urgent need to clean up city government, there’s no better time than now for the people of Chicago to land that tuna.
David Greising is president and CEO of the Better Government Association.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
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