Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios reportedly has 15 family members on either the county or state payrolls, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. 

Berrios has been fined $10,000 by the county ethics board for hiring two family members after being elected to the office in 2010 and was asked to fire three family members, but has ignored the request and failed to pay the money. 

Berrios refused the newspaper's call for an interview on the issue, but did make a statement about the kerfuffle surrounding the number of family members he has working in government or receiving pensions.

"Family members working in government isn't new in Chicago or any other large city in the United States. You are picking on the Puerto Rican kid from Cabrini-Green who's sitting alone at the lunch table while all the Irish kids sit together, laughing and grateful he's there," he said.