Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard is under fire for questionable spending and concern the village’s bills are not being paid.
According to some officials, there are concerns that numerous Dolton police cars may be repossessed because of outstanding loans.
Those officials say that six cars could be repossessed, along with six more from the Public Works department due to the late loan payments.
Village Trustee Brittny Norwood says that the mayor has been evasive in terms of opening the village’s books, and that the last time they were able to see the information, the picture wasn’t pretty.
“A few months ago, we were $7 million in debt,” she said.
Henyard has dismissed questions for months on how she has spent taxpayer dollars.
She is also under fire in a separate lawsuit, with the community’s former police chief alleging that he was improperly terminated.
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At the Dolton Village board’s Feb. 5 meeting, Henyard emphatically told the Board of Trustees “I am your leader.” At that same meeting those who have done work for the city came to ask when they will be paid for work they’ve done for the city over the last six months.
Village Trustee Jason House says there are more concerns beyond just the car loans.
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“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.,” he said.
Trustee Kiana Belch said that Henyard’s unwillingness to reveal information goes in the face of what the board’s responsibilities are.
“It’s on the back of the mayor,” she 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.”
Other media outlets have reported that Henyard has hired a PR firm to improve the town’s image, and with that has come questions over trips taken to Las Vegas and New York. The village has also paid for billboards to promote the mayor, who along with her role as a Thornton Township supervisor pulls in close to $300,000 per year in salary.
The PR firm hired to handle questions has not responded to requests for comment from NBC Chicago.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office ordered Dolton to release spending records. NBC Chicago is also seeking those records, and has not yet received word on the status of that request.
