THE LANDMARK VIEW
How many jobs as an elected official can one guy have? In the case of Steve Landek, the answer seems to be at least four.

This week he stepped into his newest role (not technically elected, by voters at least) as state senator of the 11th District. He replaced Louis Viverito, the longtime state senator and multi-jurisdictional employee from Burbank, who retired in January.

His retirement neatly coincided with his vote to raise everybody’s income taxes and the passage of a bill he authored that effectively slapped the faces of each resident of Brookfield. Poor tourists pay enough to go to Brookfield Zoo, Viverito fretted. Brookfielders can find their revenue elsewhere.

But back to Landek.

In a very brief coronation ceremony at Toyota Park, one of the crown jewels of Bridgeview, where Landek also happens to be mayor, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan and the Democratic committeemen of the 11th District – oh, did we mention Landek is also Democratic Committeeman for Lyons Township? – saw to it that Landek was appointed to replace Viverito.

The location of the vote was also revealing. Now, we’re sure that Madigan, Landek and Viverito have lots of friends and supporters and need a space big enough to accommodate them all. Toyota Park is plenty big. It’s also owned by the village of Bridgeview. It was all a fait accompli.

According to a Sun-Times Media Wire story posted on the CBS-Chicago website, Landek was appointed state senator without anyone actually voicing an actual vote. Like magic, Landek was in.

Magic elections are not new to Landek. Back in 2009, he and Lyons Township Republican Committeeman Tony Peraica worked out a convenient deal to create a consensus township slate of Republicans and Democrats, avoiding a contested election.

Landek was one of the township candidates elected without opposition. Another was Russell Hartigan, who waltzed into the township supervisor’s seat. A little over a year later Hartigan was appointed judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Guess who was named to take Hartigan’s place?

So, now we’re left to wonder how Landek is going to be able to do all of those jobs at the same time – mayor, state senator, township supervisor and township committeeman. It would also seem that several of those jobs – mayor, senator and supervisor at the very least – might pose conflicts. Then again, maybe not. No one in Brookfield, certainly, could imagine any possible conflict between being, say, a municipal mayor and a state senator.

We’re also guessing that at least three of those positions also come with pension benefits, funded by taxpayers. Just how much would Landek benefit from holding on to those jobs? We intend to find out and let you know.

Or maybe such conflicts can be resolved with a little magic. In that case, perhaps, Landek is the right man for the job.