Howard Beamon Brookins Jr. (born October 21, 1963) is the Alderman of the 21st Ward of the City of Chicago. He was elected in 2003 and is currently serving his fifth term. Early life Brookins, the son of legislator Howard B. Brookins Sr., attended Mendel Catholic High School, Southern Illinois University, and received his JD from Northern Illinois University. Public service Brookins is a former Assistant Defender, Assistant States Attorney, and Special Assistant Attorney General. Brookins serves on the Board of Directors for Community Media Workshop and he is active with the 9100 South Union Block Club. Brookins is currently a partner in Brookins and Wilson Law Firm. In 2008, Brookins unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination in the Cook County State's Attorney election. On March 14, 2016, Brookins lost a Democratic Congressional primary to Bobby Rush. Aldermanic career Brookins was elected as alderman in 2003 after he defeated incumbent Leonard DeVille. He has been reelected in 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019. He serves on sixteen committees, and chairs two: Although he was not able to achieve a majority of votes in the February 27, 2007 general election, he was re-elected in the April 17 runoff election against his challenger Leroy Jones. Brookins made $114,913 as a part-time alderman in 2011, making him one of the 19 highest paid alderman. While others chose not to accept annual pay raises while city employees were laid off, Brookins did stating, "Once it's out there, I think for me to give it back to the city for someone else to waste it somewhere else in the city doesn't make sense, and it doesn't help me with my obligations to my family." An additional source of revenue for Alderman Brookins is his law firm. On February 28, 2014, Brookins' chief of staff, Curtis V. Thompson Jr. was charged with accepting a $7,500 bribe as part of an undercover corruption probe, and sentenced to 15 months in prison bu U. S. district Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan. The Chicago Sun reports that "Thompson helped a federal informant land Brookins' essential support for a liquor license in the 21st Ward in 2013. In exchange, the informant handed Thompson 75 $100 bills stuffed into a Christmas card during a party at Brookins' office, court records show." On November 13, 2016, Brookins was biking along Cal-Sag Trail when a squirrel jumped into the spokes, and crashed the bike. This left