In 2016, Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios began the year staunchly defending nepotism in his office. He began 2017 engaged in an ethics battle with the county’s inspector general. And he begins 2018 under intense scrutiny for a property assessment system that, according to a lawsuit, perpetuates institutional racism, a serious, recurring charge Berrios denies.

Most politicians would not survive with a professional record as questionable as his. But bad press has never sidelined Berrios. It hasn’t ended his political relationships either. From Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to House Speaker Michael Madigan, Berrios’ allies protect him and campaign donors help re-elect him.

After a half century in which the city of Chicago steadily hemorrhaged jobs to its suburbs, the city has swept by them since Great Recession ended—an historic job spurt in which the city proper now is leading rather than retarding metropolitan-area employment growth.

New figures released by the Illinois Department of Employment Security indicate the total number of private-sector, unemployment-insurance-covered jobs in the city grew by 168,000, or 16.6 percent, in the seven years ended this past March. The expansion was concentrated in the Loop and the Near North, West and South Side areas adjoining it, where the total number of jobs leapt nearly a quarter. But the action also is showing signs of spreading into outlying neighborhoods.