Marj Halperin: Did Ed Burke try to shake me down? Sure felt like it.
Former Ald. Ed Burke’s perp walk as he headed for prison was slow, but his fall from the highest levels of power was swift. It played out as familiar for any of us who have been watching the steady parade of Chicago aldermen on the path from power to prison. Familiar, but many find it also kind of a shocking end to Burke’s decadeslong influence over Chicago politics and policy. I guess it was a bit less of a shock to me, as I had a firsthand opportunity to see how Burke ran his game.
The year was 1998. I was CEO of the League of Chicago Theatres, the trade association that represented some 200 theater companies at that time. Our No. 1 advocacy priority was to reduce the onerous Chicago amusement tax on live theater. And for that, I had to talk to the powerful chairman of the City Council Finance Committee — Burke.
I arranged an appointment and met Burke in his City Hall office. We started with some casual chat; I’d covered Burke as a City Hall reporter, so we knew each other. But then the conversation shifted abruptly. I suddenly felt like I was on the witness stand as Burke took on a rather stern, lawyerly tone and launched into something akin to a cross-examination. Here’s how I remember it.
Burke: So Marj, who are your clients?
