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The Chicago-area village of Dolton remains in turmoil, with trustees deciding to freeze municipal credit cards and implement staff layoffs.
This comes as former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot conducts an investigation into fellow Democrat and self-proclaimed “Super Mayor” Tiffany Henyard.
Scheduled for Monday, a meeting of Dolton officials turned into two separate meetings after some trustees alleged that Mayor Henyard, who also serves as the supervisor for Thornton Township, was preventing them from adding items to the agenda.
Consequently, they organized an additional meeting at Village Hall before the scheduled one began.
As with previous Dolton public meetings over the past few months, Monday’s meetings quickly descended into chaos. Not long after the series of meetings commenced, Henyard compelled attendees to stand up, leave the premises, and pass through malfunctioning metal detectors.
“You guys have to go through the metal detectors so that everyone is secure in the building,” Henyard ordered.
Upon Henyard’s entrance, she occupied a seat typically designated for the village attorney.
Accompanied by two defense attorneys, she participated in a closed-door session despite objections from attorney Burt Odelson, who serves as the legislative counsel for the Dolton Board of Trustees and argued that they lacked legal standing to attend.
The source of payment for these criminal defense attorneys remains unclear, with Odelson contending that utilizing village funds would be unlawful. One of the attorneys later confirmed that he had not received payment from the village.
Henyard is currently under federal investigation but has not been formally charged with any criminal offense.
The primary focus of the meetings centered on curbing spending. Consequently, Dolton trustees voted to suspend the use of nearly all village credit cards due to widespread misuse, as the village grapples with substantial debt.
“There’s thousands and thousands of dollars for Amazon purchases, for PayPal, for Target, for Walgreens, for [regional supermarket chain Jewel-Osco] in the hundreds and thousands of dollars,” said Michael McGrath, lawyer for Dolton’s trustees.
“Speaking to the accounting department, we are in financial disaster,” added trustee Kiana Belcher.
At present, only the director of administrative services is authorized to utilize the village credit card for purchases that have been preapproved by the board.
Additionally, a significant financial burden is attributed to Henyard’s extravagant security entourage, which consists of four security SUVs costing the village $250,000. Trustees have proposed offloading these vehicles to alleviate the financial strain, but a final decision regarding their fate will be deferred to a later date.
Lastly, the board has approved, with a 4-1 vote, the layoff of certain municipal employees, including Deputy Chief Lewis Lacy, who is believed to be an ally of Henyard.
Henyard criticized the layoffs as an act of “political retaliation,” while trustees argued that they needed to reduce expenses significantly in order to remain financially stable.
“It’s unfortunate, but we have to make these decisions so we can make payroll,” claimed trustee Brittney Norwood.
Due to Henyard’s extravagant spending history and the village’s financial difficulties, the “Dolton dictator” and the village are under investigation by former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. She is set to provide an initial report on her findings this Thursday.
“Y’all are being hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray,” one resident said during the meeting.
“We deserve a mayor that truly cares about our village and not a mayor who sees our village as her personal playground,” claimed another.
“The village is bleeding,” agreed trustee Norwood. “If residents knew the truth, they’d hit the roof.”
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