Chicago Way: Alderman Burke's Brother is a Ill. State Legislator and Lobbyist

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

After retiring as Chicago's deputy city clerk, state Rep. Daniel J. Burke found another way to make money.


"I had an opportunity to help businesses engage with the City of Chicago," says Burke, the younger brother of Chicago's most powerful alderman, Edward M. Burke.

It might seem like the kind of situation that could be fraught with the potential for conflicts of interest. But the city allows former city officials to return to lobby City Hall as long they've been gone for at least a year.

Burke, 58, is one of several elected officials in the Chicago area who also work as lobbyists. He says he sees nothing wrong with lobbying his former colleagues at City Hall to hire his clients. But because he is still a member of the Illinois Legislature, he says, he chose not to personally "engage in anything that had anything to do with" state government, leaving that to his business partner.

For more on Alderman Burke , the man that hands out the money in Chicago. For a look at the Chicago Mob and Alderman Burke.