 He had remained an alderman through his time in state politics, and subsequently served as deputy mayor under Clive Berghofer for six years, leaving the council in 1988.Bourke returned to local politics in 1997, when he was elected Mayor of Toowoomba, having received a high-profile late endorsement from Berghofer.He pursued a policy of fiscal restraint as mayor, and touted among his successes as mayor the completion of an aquatic centre, water treatment plant, and securing a deal to sell sewerage effluent to the Millmerran Power Station.