A televised report about Dolton Mayor and Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard’s conduct has sent shock waves throughout the state and prompted fresh calls for authorities to investigate village and township finances.
The bombshell report by the Better Government Association’s Illinois Answers Project and Fox 32 Chicago investigator Dane Placko aired during Wednesday’s 9 p.m. newscast. The explosive revelations reverberated in political circles throughout Illinois Thursday after Rich Miller’s Capitol Fax linked to the report.
“In light of what I saw on Channel 32 as well as previous stuff in your columns, this cries for examination by law enforcement,” former Gov. Pat Quinn told me.
Investigators reported the township gave $10,000 in public funds to Henyard’s charity that purports to help people with cancer. They showed videos from Henyard’s social media feeds of how she led township employees and a caravan of township vehicles from Dolton to Springfield in October to promote the charity.
The township spent more than $8,800 in public funds on hotels, restaurants and other businesses during the Springfield trip, investigators reported. Henyard told followers on social media the trip was promote legislation to help cancer survivors. But the legislature wasn’t in session at the time and no bill was ever introduced, investigators reported.
I was at the township’s annual town hall meeting April 11 when Placko and Illinois Answers Project investigators confronted Henyard and offered her the opportunity to respond to questions.
“Henyard told the media she had an open-door policy, but when reporters pressed for more details on the Springfield trip and her foundation, township employees and two armed security guards, including at least one Dolton police officer, circled her and escorted her away from reporters who pursued the group,” they reported.
Henyard did not immediately respond Thursday to my questions asking her to justify why she directed use of public resources to promote herself and her charitable organization. Critics and watchdogs have been asking similar questions for the past 15 months, ever since Henyard assumed the job of supervisor.
“I think they did a good job of piecing together how she has used this money for her promotion,” Stephanie Wiedeman told me Thursday. Wiedeman was chief of staff for the late township Supervisor Frank Zuccarelli, but was fired when Henyard took over Zuccarelli’s job.
“I’m happy that the public is able to see where their tax dollars are going,” Wiedeman said. “I hope it piques enough peoples’ interest to come to meetings and to pay attention to what’s happening.”
Voters elected Henyard Dolton mayor in April 2021. Thornton Township trustees appointed her supervisor in March 2022 to fill a vacancy created by Zuccarelli’s death.
Critics accused Henyard of firing career civil servants so she could pack payrolls with cronies and patrons. Those perceived as insufficiently loyal were ousted while supporters reaped rewards.
For example, Robert Hunt, township finance director, saw his salary boosted 63% to $190,000 a year from $116,298 annually.
Henyard’s brashness astonished observers. The Dolton village clerk claimed in a lawsuit that Henyard directed subordinates to ignore requests for documents requested through the Freedom of Information Act.
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Quinn said when he was governor, he signed a law creating a public access counselor within the attorney general’s office to give the state the ability to enforce the open records law when communities ignored it.
“I do think there is a role for the attorney general here,” Quinn said.
The most stunning moment of Henyard’s political career to date occurred in March, when she entered a Dolton Village Board meeting dressed as drug kingpin Nino Brown from the film “New Jack City.” She directed a DJ to play loud music during a public meeting.
Quinn was governor from 2009 to 2015, after George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich, both convicted of corruption.
“The six years I was governor we had two former governors in jail at the same time,” Quinn said.
“I believe in recall at the local level,” Quinn said.
Dolton voters recalled Henyard as mayor last year, but a state appellate court ruled the measure was invalid because the questions to recall the mayor and to create a process for recall were on the same ballot.
Dolton citizens should still pursue the recall mechanism and should put it on ballot for the next election in March, Quinn said.
Another way to seek accountability would be for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to file a quo warranto lawsuit and ask a court to decide whether the offices of mayor and township supervisor are compatible, according to Quinn.
“The attorney general should really examine this issue and are they in conflict,” Quinn said. “How can you be a full-time supervisor and a full-time mayor at the same time?”
The potential exists for a supervisor to disproportionately devote public resources funded by taxpayers in every community within a township to the municipality of which he or she is mayor.
“I believe you have to give one up, you can’t have both,” Quinn said.
The bottom line is that county, state or federal authorities should investigate Henyard’s questionable use of public resources.
“The idea is that if you’re elected to public office it’s a high honor, privilege and duty,” Quinn said. “You shouldn’t take two public payroll streams and pensions.”
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office could also investigate Henyard’s conduct, Quinn said. A representative of Kim Foxx provided a statement when I requested reaction.
“The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office takes allegations involving the misappropriation of public funds and public corruption very seriously,” the office said. “We continue to work with law enforcement and review any information that is brought to us to determine if legal action is appropriate based on the law and the evidence.”
After chronicling Henyard’s antics for the past two years, I thought Capitol Fax’s headline summed up the situation rather well.
“Why is this allowed to happen in plain sight?” Capitol Fax asked.
Ted Slowik is a columnist for the Daily Southtown.