Embattled Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard unexpectedly dropped into a trustee's meeting that was held outside of village hall Monday night, marking yet the latest drama in the south suburb.
Earlier, Henyard met with two trustees and multiple department heads at village hall. The meeting, however, was canceled for a lack of quorum.
"As you can see, the board did not show up, and these are the things residents are tired of. They are tired of these types of games,” she said.
Meanwhile, a majority of trustees and about two dozen residents attended a meeting at a fieldhouse. The drama came when Henyard showed up at that meeting.
“Just to be clear, just to be crystal clear, I am here to appointment my police chief, village administrator and attorney,” she said.
Trustee Jason House, who is mayor pro tem, said the meeting was held at the fieldhouse due to ongoing capacity issues at village hall.
“The attorney general gave us a binding opinion that meetings at village hall were not legal – they violate the Open Meetings Act, meaning there was not enough space for residents and others,” House said. "Here, there are no barricades, and there are plenty of seats for residents and others.”
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A Cook County Circuit Court judge recently blocked appointments by Henyard to three key village posts. The judge sided with four trustees who are at odds with Henyard.
They contended the appointments of Ronnie Burge Sr. as police chief, Angela Lockett as village attorney and Michael Smith as village administrator were illegal because the village board did not vote on them, and the judge agreed.
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The trustees sued in Cook County Circuit Court, seeking a temporary restraining order to block the appointments.
“Those three were never presented to the board,” House said. “We never saw any resumes and background checks.”
With the TRO in effect, Henyard's appointees are still unable to take office.
Henyard is at the center of several probes and lawsuits, with an ongoing federal grand jury investigation that began in November 2023 among them. Federal investigators have asked for financial records and other documents concerning Henyard in her role as mayor and also supervisor of Thornton Township.
