Editorial: Will Ald. Ed Burke run for a 14th term? For Chicago’s sake, he should step down.

To say that Illinoisans heaved a collective sigh of relief when Michael Madigan finally acquiesced and gave up his seat in the General Assembly is a whopper of an understatement.

The dark cloud of indictment had been looming over him for some time, he finally had been forced out of his House Speaker post — and yet still he clung to his seat in the Illinois House.

Then finally, on Feb. 18, 2021, Madigan saw the writing on the wall and resigned from the House. His life’s next chapter awaits in a federal courtroom, where he will face trial on racketeering charges.

It’s now time for Ed Burke to read the writing on the wall.

Nearly five years after FBI agents raided Burke’s City Hall office, U.S. District Judge Robert Dow has set Nov. 6, 2023, as the far-off trial date for the 78-year-old alderman, who faces charges that include racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion. Dow reportedly struggled to schedule a trial due to the busy schedules of the attorneys involved. That absurdly lengthy delay means Burke can still run for an astonishing 14th term in office early next year, and if elected would be sworn in long before a jury is selected for his trial.

Voters in his 14th Ward have every reason to say “enough!” to the white-haired, bespectacled onetime dean of the City Council, and they should. It’s hard to find someone still in office who more aptly symbolizes the corrosive nature of Chicago machine politics than Burke.

An alderman for more than five decades, Burke ascended to become chairman of the powerful Finance Committee, making him a top gatekeeper for lucrative developments and projects requiring city approval. His alleged abuses of power are showcased in his indictment. In January 2017, he allegedly told wire-wearing fellow Ald. Daniel Solis that he refused to help developers who had balked at hiring his law firm for tax work.

“The cash register has not rung yet,” federal prosecutors accuse Burke of telling Solis. A few months later, when the developers still wouldn’t play along, Burke allegedly told Solis, “As far as I’m concerned, they can go f--- themselves.”

Burke has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Later this year, he will have to announce whether he plans to run again, despite being burdened by the yoke of a looming federal criminal trial.

Though he has every right to toss his hat in the ring one more time, we urge him to put his 14th Ward constituents and the rest of Chicago ahead of his own interests and ego, and declare that he won’t run again. He can then focus on trial preparation and life after a verdict — whatever and wherever that may be.

We have our doubts, however, that Burke will do the right thing. He certainly didn’t during the last election cycle, when he opted to pursue another term even after being initially charged in a criminal complaint in January 2019. Anchoring that initial complaint was a charge accusing Burke of attempting to shake down businessmen seeking permits to renovate a Burger King restaurant.

A wiretap recorded Burke allegedly leaning on the businessmen to hire his law firm in exchange for the renovation permits. When the executives balked at cooperating, Burke allegedly plotted with a ward staffperson to delay the permits and send a city worker to the site to harass the business with unwarranted citations.

That should have been more than enough for voters in the 14th Ward to cut the cord on Burke. Instead, they overwhelmingly supported his return to office, giving him 53% of the vote. Either they were lost in the fog of denial, or simply were unmoved by allegations of Burke’s abuse of power.

That cannot happen again. Chicago faces myriad problems, from gun violence and South and West Side disinvestment to the post-pandemic fate of the Loop. But among those top-shelf priorities should be a long overdue corruption-cleanse, hastening the end of the self-serving machine politics Burke, Madigan and scores of others perpetuated.

Chicago will never ascend as long as “the Chicago Way” remains the credo at City Hall. The roads to reform in Chicago governance are manifold.

One of them entails a City Hall without Ed Burke.

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