Solidifying the divide between Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard and the majority of the south suburb’s trustees, the Dolton Village Board voted Monday night to override her veto of their April decision to hire former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to investigate Henyard’s spending habits.
As at past meetings addressing Henyard’s conduct as mayor, concerned residents lined up outside the board chamber to make sure they had a chance to speak out against what many see as chronic dishonesty and mismanagement of taxpayer funds.
Sherry Now, who said several generations of her family are from the area, came to support those who still live in Dolton. She criticized Henyard’s spending habits as mayor and said she backs Lightfoot “every which way.”
“I was never into politics until now,” she said. “People left, people died off, people changed, but they should have what we had — with the love and the families growing and to be comfortable in your town and enjoy it.”
While police taped off most of the block and the building’s parking lot, by the time the meeting began, residents had walked through the metal detectors and filled all 40 folding chairs. With residents becoming raucous at past meetings, a village police inspector, Sylvester Baker, repeatedly warned those attending that he would clear the room if they spoke out of turn.
“You can end this if you would just be transparent,” said one woman, wearing a T-shirt with the phrase “Y’all going to jail” printed on it. “We want to know where our money is at — we need that.”
(Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
The meeting progressed with Henyard touting her accomplishments as mayor and stating her frustration with residents and the media for what she called a “smear campaign” against her.
Henyard said the trustees’ decision to hire Lightfoot as a special investigator for $400 an hour was “unconstitutional infringement of the powers of the office of mayor.”
Her concerns did not deter four of the six trustees, who voted in favor of hiring the former Chicago mayor and assistant U.S. attorney to investigate what some have called excessive and unauthorized use of village funds by Henyard, which they say created a deficit of more than $5 million.
Trustee Jason House asked the board to allow Lightfoot to make remarks after the vote. Henyard denied the request, calling it “political grandstanding,” and encouraged a quick adjournment, angering many who chanted “Let her speak” as police tried to shuffle people out.
Lightfoot managed to briefly address those in attendance before her microphone was shut off by the village staff. She stressed she would not allow the administration to “stop us from getting to the facts.”
Lightfoot later released a statement commending the board’s decision to override the veto and stating her intention to complete a fair and thorough investigation.
“I look forward to the work ahead and urge Mayor Henyard and her administration to fully cooperate with this investigation by promptly providing the requested documentation to give all concerned a complete and accurate accounting of the fiscal conditions for the village,” Lightfoot said in the statement.
Audience members, enflamed by the quick conclusion of the meeting and taunts from mayoral allies who stayed behind village room counters during the meeting, did not leave quietly. A shouting match between those supporting and those criticizing Henyard led to police threatening arrest of one man, Dan Lee, after he approached a man behind the counter.
“They want to arrest me for speaking up,” Lee said after he was escorted out of the building. “I’m not going to stand by and let some lackeys and people that don’t even live here come in here and disrespect our residents.”
“Lightfoot should have been allowed to speak — they know that,” he said. “But they’re so eager to protect the narrative of this illegitimate, inept, corrupt administration. They want to turn on us; we’re the ones paying their salaries, but they want to turn on us. That’s just not right.”
