A south Chicago suburb is under the spotlight for possible corruption after its mayor was accused of lavishly spending money on luxuries while the Village of Dolton wallows in serious debt.
Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard has come under scrutiny for making very questionable spending decisions as mayor even as the village’s bills are going unpaid, Chicago’s WMAQ-TV reported.
In fact, the Chicago suburb’s debt problem is so bad that it has been reported that its police cars are on the verge of being repossessed because the car loan payments have not been made.
According to sources, six police cars and six other cars from the Public Works Department are on the line over late loan payments.
One village trustee also claims that Henyard has been doing all she can to resist opening the books so that the board and the public can see where all the money is going.
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“A few months ago, we were $7 million in debt,” Trustee Brittny Norwood noted.
Henyard is embroiled in a growing number of controversies, the reports say. From inquiries about her lavish spending to a lawsuit alleging she improperly terminated the village’s police chief, the mayor’s troubles are piling up.
Trustee Jason House told the media that he has passed on complaints from village vendors that they have not been paid, but when he does, Henyard’s office seems to ignore the messages.
“I’ve received no less than 10 messages from different vendors, every time I turn them over to the mayor’s office and it really falls on deaf ears,” House told the media.
Trustee Kiana Belch blasted the mayor for the growing debt problem.
In today’s paper, Tiffany Henyard: Dolton’s “dictator” mayor https://t.co/IR6Qw8uN8g pic.twitter.com/2P8fd8hYMe
— Steven Vago (@Vagoish) February 16, 2024
“It’s on the back of the mayor,” Belch said. “We are the legislative body, she want us to do our job, because she says we never do our job. Our job is to make sure the finances are in order and she’s not allowing us to do our job.”
Henyard is under pressure for earning a whopping $280,000 a year, taking lavish trips to Las Vegas and other cities, and hiring an expensive PR firm to do a makeover for the village’s image.
Dolton trustees and citizens are not alone in wanting to see the books. The Illinois attorney general has also demanded that Henyard open the books so investigators can track spending habits.
Chicago’s WGN-TV had filed a Freedom of Information Act request to see Dolton’s books, but that request was ignored. That spurred the station to report the situation to state officials. In turn, the state issued a rare binding order.
“In the opinion, the Village of Dolton is directed to respond as soon as possible to the request,” a spokeswoman for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a Feb. 9 message to WGN. “The village has 35 days after the issuance of the opinion to either comply or contest the opinion in court.”
WGN had previously reported that documents showed that Thornton Township, where Henyard is also an elected official, has spent nearly $67,000 in township funds on trips to Portland, Austin, Atlanta and New York City.
Illinois ‘super mayor’ Tiffany Henyard uses cops to harass enemies, puts face on posters across town ‘like a dictator’: residents https://t.co/JMgWar5hDU pic.twitter.com/DGfbUfCPx5
— New York Post (@nypost) February 15, 2024
Lodging costs were lavish. When Henyard and her group visited Atlanta, they spent $9,347 on hotels. When they visited New York City, they spent an even bigger $13,098 on hotels.
Should Henyard be prosecuted for misuse of funds?
The mayor, though, is still scrambling to hide away her spending as Dolton’s mayor. WFLD-TV reported that on Feb. 14, when citizens attempted to attend a public board meeting, Henyard stationed a police officer at the door to prevent people from entering.
Instead, they were directed to a different room and they say they were told the meeting would be held there. The meeting, though, was never held in the separate room and by the time the residents discovered the truth, the meeting was over and Henyard had already fled the building.
The citizens of Dolton have a right to see the city’s books. They also have a right to expect that Dolton’s officials are spending tax dollars wisely. But now that the state seems to be poised to getting involved, one can’t help but wonder how much longer Mayor Henyard can keep running and hiding?
