Dolton's mayor returned to a Cook County courtroom Friday after not meeting a judge's deadline to sign liquor licenses for a local business.
Mayor Tiffany Henyard signed the licenses after Cook County Judge Cecilia Horan threatened her with contempt.
Business owner Tiffany Kamara took legal action when she said she was not able to obtain liquor licenses from Henyard, who also serves as liquor commissioner.
Kamara said the licenses were needed to open St. Patrick’s, a new family-owned restaurant and banquet hall on Lincoln Avenue in Dolton.
"This should have been over in November," Kamara said.
On Wednesday, Judge Horan gave Henyard until 5 p.m. Thursday to sign the licenses. The deadline was not met.
After the documents were signed Friday in court, Judge Horan found Henyard in indirect criminal contempt, but Henyard was not taken into custody.
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"There are different kinds of contempt," said attorney Adrian Vuckovich. "What it means is that in the presence of the court, the mayor was disrespectful to the authority of the court."
Max Solomon, Henyard's attorney, explained the holdup in signing.
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"It is very important for people to understand that the documents signed today had another entity on there. That was the holdup. ... That was the only thing," Solomon said.
Kamara said she lost time and money in the delay and wants Henyard to pay.
"We want her to be fined. We want her to pay attorney fees, and we want damages. She has hurt my client," Vuckovich said.
"We are wasting money every day … taxpayers' money. This is a nice building that people could be using and not to mention the jobs."
