Up against a midnight deadline with less than 15 minutes to spare, the Thornton Township Board Thursday appointed Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard to fill the late Frank Zuccarelli’s position as Thornton Township supervisor.
The action, at a meeting convened at 10:55 p.m., came after at least five other nominations failed and following two closed-door sessions by the board, that needed to appoint somebody before Friday or the decision would have been left to voters who attended a town hall-style meeting.
This followed a Tuesday meeting when the board also had remained deadlocked, even after meeting, mostly in closed session for more than 3 hours, and that gathering was a continuation of a Feb. 22 meeting.
Township Trustee Gerald “Jerry” Jones, Township Assessor Cassandra Elston and Joyce Washington, who has been deputy supervisor, were among the people nominated Thursday who were unable to get the three votes needed to fill the job, or in some cases get a second to their nomination.
At one point, Township Clerk Loretta Wells was needed to break a 2-2-tie. Washington and Jones had voted to appoint Jones; trustees Darlene Gray Everett and Christopher D. Gonzalez had voted no. Wells, too, voted no.
After no trustee received enough votes, nominations were made of other officials in the township before Henyard was nominated. After receiving enough votes, a surprised Henyard was immediately sworn in to meet the midnight deadline and complete Zuccarelli’s term, which runs through April 2025.
Zuccarelli, who died Jan. 3, had been township supervisor since 1993 and was paid an annual salary of about $250,000, which is more than Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s salary or Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
The supervisor oversees 170 full- and part-time township employees and an annual budget of $35 million in 2019, according to the Illinois comptroller.
According to state statute, the township board had to fill the supervisor position within 60 days, or citizens could call a special township meeting. If at least 15 registered voters attend the meeting, any qualified person who receives the most votes is appointed.
Before the meeting, township attorney Stanley Kusper said there are different interpretations of the statute, such as whether the 60-day period includes the date of Zuccarelli’s death or starts the day after. Rather than risk a legal challenge or letting a group of voters decide at what likely would become a chaotic town hall meeting, Kusper advised the board complete the vote Thursday.
Less than a year ago, Henyard was elected the youngest mayor of Dolton and the first woman in that position, after serving eight years as a village trustee. She was sworn in as mayor in May 2021 and the subsequent months have not been smooth. In November, Henyard said her “dream team” had become a nightmare.
A trustee has accused her of steamrolling her ideas through the village board.
A special meeting in August was canceled at the last minute. Trustees held a meeting outside of Village Hall without the mayor.
Henyard also has been criticized for hiring a registered sex offender as a code enforcement officer. She admitted not having a background check performed was a mistake and said she created a background check policy to try to correct it. But she resisted the board’s effort to make the policy retroactive to May.
In the fall, Henyard said she was trying to improve communication with the board members.
In December, the Dolton Village Board voted 5-1 to put a referendum on the June ballot to have her recalled. Henyard questions the legality of that proposition.
Thornton Township borders Indiana and includes all or parts of Burnham, Calumet City, Dixmoor, Dolton, East Hazel Crest, Harvey, Homewood, Lansing, Phoenix, Riverdale, South Holland and Thornton.
Kimberly Fornek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.