Dolton, Ill. Mayor Tiffany Henyard made headlines again for yet another set of shenanigans when she stormed into a board meeting earlier this week to put her foot down on decisions being passed by her trustees.
However, village residents were also in attendance and her sudden appearance did not go over well with them. Monday’s (Oct. 7) village board meeting was held to discuss and vote on how to address the village’s deficit, per WGN. The village trustees sought former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to launch an investigation into how Henyard let the Dolton Village General Fund wind up with a negative balance of $3.65 million last year. This year, the deficit is at $2.8 million.
“We have to be able to use what we have, whether it be collateral or anything, to save you guys. So, we’re not saving us. We’re saving the community because we don’t want to impose additional taxes or something for the negligence that has happened over the last three-and-a-half years,” said village trustee Kiana Belcher in the meeting.
Among their discussions, they agreed to bring a halt to the lease of “high-profile” vehicles and sell the village’s fitness center, the report says. Where was Henyard? The self-proclaimed “super mayor” showed up an hour late to the village meeting in a full makeup beat, donning a Barbie pink ensemble all to say one thing.
“I just want to come here and lay the law down as it relates to what’s going on in our village, where we are, and where we’re going,” Henyard said to the audience.
In response to her mic drop moment, she was pretty much met with “Booooo tomato, tomato, throwing tomatoes,” from the residents in attendance. Village of Dolton attorney Burt Odelson told WGN her veto didn’t hold much weight anyway because it wasn’t written in a formal document before she stomped out. However, the shade comes from the village residents and trustees being fed up with Henyard’s allegedly poor spending habits.
Lightfoot’s preliminary report found Henyard spent over $43,000 at Amazon in just one day and dramatically increased the police budget - which many allege was a hidden scheme to hire cops as her own private security. The village is also under federal investigation though the details of the probe have not been disclosed.