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I met him at some legislative hearings when he was Mayor of Millvale, a small, struggling community in Allegheny County, off of Route 28. You have to be sharp, tough and ambitious to go from that base to take over leadership of the County Democratic, pay-to-play machine (think Daly/Chicago machine).
This "bio" is from a law firm he worked for.
"Jim Burn graduated from Duquesne University in 1985 and received his J.D. from the University of Dayton in 1988. He was a recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award, Advanced Criminal Law and was the Vice President and then President of the Student Bar Association.
Jim practices only plaintiff's work and tailors his practice only to the needs of individuals - not companies. Aside from his practice of law, where he specializes in Workers' Compensation and Social Security Disability, he was the mayor of the Borough of Millvale from 1994 - 2005, and he has served on the Allegheny County Council since 2006. In Addition, he has served as Chairman of the Allegheny Democratic Committee since 2006. He was the Pennsylvania State Mayor Association's "Mayor of the Year" in 1997."
The following excerpt from the Politico blog presages some less than smooth sailing with Sestak in the upcoming election. AND YES, I KNOW THAT THIS ARTICLE IS A YEAR OLD. However there are a lot of complaints from this end of the state that Sestak and his organization have not reached out to the Allegheny County Dems. Sestak also did not endorse Burn for state chairman and at one point was backing a woman candidate from the eastern part of the state. Burn, along with the county party machine, strongly supported Hilary Clinton and Arnold Specter. I've heard Sestak has done well at reaching out to the Phillie Dems; hope he can generate better rapport with the Allegheny Cty./Pittsburgh Dems.
July 22, 2009 (from Politico)
Categories: Pennsylvania
Sestak blasted by Democratic chairman
Congressman Joe Sestak is in hot water with one of Pennsylvania’s leading Democratic county chairmen after he blasted an e-mail implying the chairman was supporting his Senate candidacy. The e-mail, featuring quotes from Democratic officials praising Sestak’s candidacy, implied that Allegheny County chairman Jim Burn was backing Sestak. It referenced Burn’s quote to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that “leadership can only make endorsements… that does not mean we have to fall in line.”
Burn shot out a scathing response to Sestak’s (mis)use of his quote, which was distributed by Sen. Arlen Specter's campaign. “I do not appreciate the way my quote was misused by your office. In my opinion you are attempting to create an inference that perhaps I have endorsed Congressman Sestak when I have not,” Burn wrote.
“If this is what we can expect for the next 10 months, I can guarantee you that you will not want to come within 20 miles of any more of my quotes.” Wow. Burn's comments come at an inopportune time for Sestak, who needs to win over voters in western Pennsylvania to mount a successful primary challenge against Specter. He's not well-known in that part of the state, but his military background has the potential to appeal to tradition-minded Democrats. But needless to say, when the party chairman of one of the state's largest counties (which includes Pittsburgh) makes a not-so-veiled threat to your campaign, that's not a good sign.
By Josh Kraushaar 03:20 PM
I ran into Burn about a year ago at a holiday party in Millvale, hosted by a gay couple. He was not "working the room"; he was just visiting friends, sitting on the front porch steps, with his plate of food from the buffet. He's plaintiff oriented on workers' comp and social security disability. I hope he will use his considerable abilities to drag the county machine into the 21st century, get rid of the ancient party hacks and bring in some new (progressive) blood. I fully expect him to run for statewide office in not-too-distant future.
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