Illinois ‘super mayor’ conducted ‘systematic’ cover-up of excessive spending, Lightfoot investigation finds

Dolton, Illinois, Mayor Tiffany Henyard’s administration was engaged in a “systematic effort” to cover up the Illinois town’s financial situation as Henyard and other officials failed to track the spending of hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to an investigation by former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Lightfoot, who now works as a consultant with Charles River Associates, was tasked with investigating Henyard’s administration last year, and she presented her findings at a meeting Monday night. Henyard has served as the city’s self-styled “super-mayor” since 2021.

“Beginning at least as early as late 2021, there was a concerted, systematic effort on behalf of Mayor Henyard and others in her administration to hide the true financial condition of the Village of Dolton from the trustees and from members of the public,” Lightfoot said.

Lightfoot said the Village of Dolton received some $3 million in payments from the American Rescue Plan, hundreds of thousands of which went missing without receipts. Henyard failed to appoint an official to track how the funds were spent, as required by the Treasury Department, according to Lightfoot’s report.

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The city’s credit card spending also spiked to $779,638 in 2023, also with little to no tracking.

“Many of the credit card expenditures have no accompanying receipt, and the statements alone provide limited information about the purchases,” the report says, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

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City credit cards were also used to pay for large trips to Las Vegas in both 2022 and 2023, and the report claims, “There is no evidence that any business development opportunities came to the village as a result of either of these two trips.”

Lightfoot’s report comes just days after Henyard was found in contempt of court for stonewalling liquor licenses.

The owners of St. Patrick’s, a three-story restaurant and banquet hall on Lincoln Avenue, sued in August claiming the mayor had repeatedly promised to sign the liquor licenses – which were already approved by the village board of trustees – but did not. 

In court on Wednesday, Henyard, who also serves as the village liquor commissioner, reportedly vowed again that she would sign the licenses, but she did not before the 5 p.m. Thursday deadline. 

The parties were therefore forced to return to court again Friday, and Henyard arrived a half hour late for the hearing, WGN-TV reported.

Cook County Judge Cecilia Horan held Henyard in indirect criminal contempt. That means the mayor was considered “disrespectful to the authority of the court,” Adrian Vuckovich, an attorney for the owners of St. Patrick’s, told WMAQ-TV. 

“It’s been a challenge to put it mildly. It shouldn’t be so difficult. This is an ordinary event to get liquor licenses issued,” Vuckovich told WGN separately.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.