Chicago-area Democrat mayor helps throw lavish $85,000 party to small crowd following 'excessive'-spending probe



A controversial Chicago-area mayor and township supervisor recently helped throw an event that cost taxpayers more than $85,000 despite a recent probe into her apparently "excessive" spending habits.

On August 17, Tiffany Henyard, the mayor of the Village of Dolton and the supervisor of nearby Thornton Township, helped organize a municipal party entitled "A Taste of Thornton Township." Henyard's predecessor also organized the event in previous years.

'She's just not going to stop until they put cuffs on her.'

This year's event was "powered by Supervisor Tiffany A. Henyard and the Thornton Township Board" and billed as "A Free Concert & Community Celebration," according to a township Facebook post, but it was certainly not "free" for the township.

WGN Investigates discovered through a Freedom of Information Act request that the party cost about $85,770. Of that, $50,000 went to pay for two musicians, R&B singer Keke Wyatt and rapper J. Holiday, to perform for 30 minutes each. Another $6,600 went toward renting inflatable bounce houses for children, WGN-TV reported.

Despite the high price tag, the event drew small crowds. Former Dolton trustee Valeria Stubbs called it a "flop" and estimated that only 60 or 70 people showed up.

Henyard, sometimes referred to as the "Dolton dictator" and "America's worst mayor," did not seem bothered by the apparently low turnout or the costs to the township. "This is all for the babies," she said as she filmed herself at the event. "They don’t show you this side of Tiffany Henyard: the productivity."

Some local residents took a decidedly different view.

"I was flabbergasted," said Jennifer Robertz of Lansing. "I was p*ssed off. That’s my money. That’s the people’s money."

According to WGN, most of the contracts associated with the township party were signed before the board of trustees took steps to curtail municipal spending.

Last month, trustees in Dolton voted to freeze almost all village credit cards, as Blaze News previously reported. For now, only the director of administrative services will be able to use the village credit card and only for purchases preapproved by the board.

Since the spring, Henyard, 41, has also been the subject of federal and local investigations.

Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a fellow Democrat, was tapped to spearhead the local investigation into Henyard's "excessive and unauthorized use of village funds," according to the Washington Examiner.

In a preliminary report issued on August 8, Lightfoot revealed that Dolton was currently in a budget shortfall of over $3.6 million even though Henyard inherited a $5.6 million budget surplus when she took office in April 2022, WLS reported.

Lightfoot also documented lavish trips to Las Vegas, more than $40,000 in Amazon purchases, and another $10,000 spent at Wayfair and Best Buy, all on the village dime. "These are somebody using the credit card and charging these amounts using your tax dollars," Lightfoot said.

Lightfoot further noted that the state has not audited the village's books as required by law.

The Village of Dolton hired Lightfoot at $400 an hour for a total of $30,000. The federal investigation into Henyard remains ongoing.

At least one Dolton resident believes Henyard, whom she called "a narcissist," will eventually get her comeuppance.

"I feel like she knows this is over, but she’s going to go down kicking and screaming like an MMA fighter," Sherry Britton said. "She's just not going to stop until they put cuffs on her."

Thus far, Henyard has not been charged with any crime, though Dolton Deputy Police Chief Lewis Lacey, described as a Henyard "ally," was indicted a few weeks ago on nine federal charges, including bankruptcy fraud and perjury. He has since pled not guilty.

Henyard's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WGN.

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Chicago-area village credit cards frozen, deputy chief laid off as Lightfoot concludes investigation into controversial mayor



Chaos in the Chicago-area village of Dolton continues, as trustees voted to freeze municipal credit cards and lay off staff while former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot wraps up her investigation into fellow Democrat and self-described "Super Mayor" Tiffany Henyard.

A meeting of Dolton officials had already been scheduled for Monday, but one meeting turned into two after some trustees claimed that Mayor Henyard, who is also the supervisor for Thornton Township, would not let them add items to the agenda. So they arranged to host a separate meeting at Village Hall before the other meeting there began.

'Y'all are being hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray.'

As has been the case at most Dolton public meetings for the past several months, the meetings on Monday quickly got out of hand. For one thing, shortly after the series of meetings began, Henyard forced attendees to stand up, exit the area, and walk through metal detectors that had apparently malfunctioned earlier in the day.

"You guys have to go through the metal detectors so that everyone is secure in the building," Henyard ordered.

Then when Henyard entered, she took a seat normally reserved for the village attorney. She also had two defense attorneys sit next to her and even attend a closed-door session, though attorney Burt Odelson, who serves as the legislative counsel for the Dolton Board of Trustees, claimed they had no legal standing to attend such a session.

How these criminal defense attorneys are being paid is unclear, but Odelson asserted that paying them out of village funds would be illegal. One of the attorneys later stated he had not been paid by the village.

Henyard is the subject of a federal investigation but has not yet been charged with any crime.

The main focus of the meetings was curtailing spending. To that end, Dolton trustees voted to freeze the use of almost all village credit cards, claiming too many people had abused the privilege while the village wallows in 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.

For now, only the director of administrative services will be able to use the village credit card and only for purchases preapproved by the board.

Another significant financial drain is Henyard's extravagant security retinue, including four security SUVs that cost the village $250,000. Trustees suggested off-loading the vehicles to relieve themselves of the payments, but the final decision about the vehicles will be made at a later date.

Finally, the board voted 4-1 to lay off certain municipal employees, including Deputy Chief Lewis Lacy, a supposed Henyard ally. Henyard slammed the layoffs as thinly veiled "political retaliation," but the trustees countered that they had to trim as much fat as possible to stay afloat.

"It’s unfortunate, but we have to make these decisions so we can make payroll," claimed trustee Brittney Norwood.

Because of Henyard's history of lavish spending and the village's poor financial circumstances, former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was tapped to conduct a formal investigation into Henyard, notoriously nicknamed the "Dolton dictator," and the village itself.

Lightfoot is expected to give a preliminary report of her findings on 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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Chicago Mayor Defends Spending Campaign Funds On Makeup By Touting Support Of ‘Black And Brown-Owned’ Small Businesses

'Go get your hair and makeup done by black people'

Democrat mayor faces FBI investigation over allegations of corruption, abuse of power — all as she rakes in massive salary



The FBI is reportedly investigating misconduct and corruption allegations involving Democrat Tiffany Henyard, a small-town Illinois politician.

Henyard serves as mayor of Dolton, Illinois, a small village south of Chicago, and the supervisor of Thornton Township. She made headlines earlier this month when she lashed out at Dolton trustees for questioning her lavish spending habits. Questioning her spending, Henyard asserted, is akin to "attacking a black woman in power."

Despite the village being millions of dollars in debt, Henyard has allegedly used taxpayer funds for extravagant trips, fine dining, first-class travel, self-promotion, her personal charity, and an expensive police detail, according to WGN-TV. All the while, Henyard rakes in a salary of nearly $300,000.

Now, the FBI is looking into allegations of misconduct, including abuse of power and corruption.

Lawrence Gardner, the owner of a U-Haul rental and trucking business in Dolton, told WFLD-TV that he met with the FBI after city officials allegedly harassed him and shut down his business in retaliation for not donating to an event that Henyard sponsored.

"I talked to a couple of agents and I explained to them what's going on," he told the news outlet. "I gave them all my paperwork to show them what was happening in court and what was happening in Dolton. And they told me they were investigating and would be in touch with me."

Dewayne Wood, a local restaurant owner, told a similar story.

Although he has not yet spoken with FBI agents, Wood said Dolton city officials are not renewing the business license for his restaurant because he has provided catering services to Dolton trustees who oppose Henyard.

"I've heard rumors that say, hey, I'm on the wrong team," Wood told WFLD. "I think I've been targeted because of my association, affiliation with a certain group of people. ... The trustees. I've cooked for the trustees."

In total, WFLD located six people with whom the FBI has already spoken. WFLD reported:

Agents are asking questions about Henyard's alleged use of taxpayer dollars and resources, including massive spending on out-of-town trips. They’ve also inquired about hundreds of thousands of dollars in police overtime for Henyard’s personal security detail, her alleged use of public employees and tax dollars for personal benefit, and the holding up of licenses to certain businesses.

For her part, Henyard has denied allegations of wrongdoing. In a statement, a public relations firm speaking on her behalf denied knowledge of the FBI's investigation.

"Mayor Tiffany Henyard and the Village of Dolton have not received any subpoenas and have not been contacted by the FBI or any other law enforcement agency," the statement said.

The FBI, on the other hand, is not speaking about the investigation, consistent with agency policy.

Meanwhile, Illinois Attorney General's Office has ordered Heynard's charity — the Tiffany Henyard Cares Foundation, which supposedly helps cancer patients — to stop soliciting donations. The foundation is accused of not filing financial disclosure forms.

After WFLD broke news of the FBI's investigation, two Dolton bars were raided by city police. The owners of those establishments believe they are being targeted for political retaliation.

FBI probing Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard's misconduct allegations www.youtube.com

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