‘Fast Eddie’ Off the Illinois Attorney Rolls

March 17, 2009 by CookReformer
Filed under: Corruption, Elections, Reform, Taxes

The Illinois Supreme Court on Monday struck former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak’s name from the roll of attorneys licensed to practice law in Illinois at his request. The action comes after he pleaded guilty in federal court in November to a felony charge of conspiring to commit mail fraud.

If you recall, “Fast Eddie” somehow avoided jail time - despite his guilty plea. For those of us who are used to Cook County politics - we weren’t surprised.

But perhaps the more important question is how active Eddie will be in the upcoming elections. We know he is a vehement opponent of Tony Peraica’s reform efforts - even supporting Peraica’s opponent (Mike LaPidus) for Lyons Township GOP Committeeman in the 2006 elections.

And we’ve already seen how the Vrdolyak-supported LaPidus has already begun to stir up trouble.

We expect Mr. Vrdolyak (as well as various corrupt and troubled special interests in the Western Suburbs) to oppose our reform efforts - but they should know that we are ready to expose each and every one of them, and their links to the corrupt Cook County political system that continues to embarrass us and cost us millions in tax dollars.