Dolton’s embattled first-term Mayor Tiffany Henyard carries the self-proclaimed title of “Super Mayor.”
But will the results of an investigation released last week that outlined outrageous village spending under her tenure — including $40,000 spent on Amazon in a single day — prove to be her kryptonite?
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, hired by Dolton trustees as a special investigator assigned to look into accusations that Henyard is misspending public funds, discussed preliminary results of her probe during a special village meeting last Thursday.
According to Lightfoot’s report, Dolton had a $5.6 million budget surplus in April 2022, a year after Henyard’s election.
But the south suburban village of 20,000 is now $3.6 million in debt, Lightfoot found.
“The village has been unable to pay all of its monthly expenditures with its available cash balance,” Lightfoot told those gathered for the special meeting.
Henyard did not attend the meeting. She should have. Dolton taxpayers deserve answers.
Other questionable spending include two police officers who each doubled their base pay in 2024 by ringing up six figures of overtime apiece, Lightfoot found.
Even Deputy Chief Lewis Lacey, who was fired this month, earned $96,000 in overtime pay last fiscal year — even though he was a salaried employee who was not entitled to the added pay.
Coincidentally, a federal grand jury Monday indicted Lacey, 61, on bankruptcy fraud charges. The feds said he hid assets and income from creditors in a bid to illegally reduce what he owed in a bankruptcy suit.
In addition to the big Amazon buy on a village credit card, Lightfoot said other purchases on Dolton’s plastic were made at Target, Walgreens, Wayfair — $7,700 was spent there Sept. 1, 2023 — and other retailers.
The report does not identify Henyard as making the transactions. Henyard and her administration rarely provided purchase receipts, Lightfoot found.
“What a slap in the face to everybody that resides in 60419 ZIP code,” Dolton Trustee Kiana Belcher responded to Lightfoot’s findings during the meeting.
It certainly is. The allegations and others that have recently caught the FBI’s attention have made the town — and Henyard — a national laughingstock.
We can only hope the feds are also eyeballing Lightfoot’s findings and can help restore Dolton residents’ confidence in their local government.
One way, or another.
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