COOK COUNTY, Ill. — For months, Dolton, Illinois, Mayor Tiffany Henyard’s administration repeatedly refused to release spending records, in violation of the state’s government transparency laws.
Even when Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office ordered the village to turn over the documents, Henyard and her allies took no action.
NewsNation affiliate WGN’s parent company filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court.
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In response, a judge recently ordered Dolton to release dozens of pages of documents, including months’ worth of credit card statements. A review of those records shows Henyard and her allies spent tens of thousands of dollars on first-class flights, airline upgrades, high-end hotels, Uber Eats and more.
The statements cover a five-month span, from July to November 2023.
“When you see things like this — it’s just a punch in the gut,” said Dolton Trustee Tammie Brown. Brown is among a group of board members who publicly oppose Henyard. She also had not seen the statements, despite numerous requests for copies.
“(Henyard) hid it from us because we would definitely have questions,” Brown said.
In addition to her role as mayor of Dolton, Henyard is supervisor of Thornton Township, an elected position that pays her more than $200,000 a year.
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Last January, WGN Investigates reported how Henyard and her allies charged more than $67,000 to township credit cards for out-of-town travel during a five-month span in 2023.
Based on a review of Dolton’s credit card statements, WGN Investigates found village taxpayers were charged an additional $33,920 for the same trips to New York, Atlanta, Portland and more.
Expenditures include a five-day trip to Austin in July 2023. In attendance were Henyard, her top aide Keith Freeman and three township officials. In all, the group spent more than $20,000 of Dolton taxpayer money in Texas.
Charges include $11,609 at the high-end Fairmont Austin hotel; $389 at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse; $503 for “sports/riding apparel” and $413 at a local Walgreen’s.
Officials have not said why they traveled other than to attend “conferences.”
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“I’m sure you guys had an awesome time on the backs of taxpayers,” said Brown, who was not on the trips. “But what do we gain from any of these trips? We gain nothing.”
Besides the travel, other notable Dolton credit card charges include:
$24,778 at retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target
$14,425 at Amazon
$5,009 at Uber Eats and local restaurants
$3,491 for Henyard’s personal photographer
The village also released records relating to Henyard’s village vehicles. Copies of the three leases, allegedly signed by Henyard, show the luxury SUVs cost residents more than $374,000.
In a recent interview with WGN Investigates, Henyard’s attorney Beau Brindley said the mayor was not responsible for the spending, alleging it was done at Freeman’s direction.
Freeman has been charged in federal court with bankruptcy fraud. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
WGN Investigates shared its findings with Kelly Richmond Pope, a DePaul University professor who has investigated municipal spending.
“I’m just shocked a leader would think they can get away with this type of behavior and no one is going to ask them about it,” she said.
