Dolton special board meeting held, concerns over recent sexual misconduct allegations discussed

DOLTON, Ill. – Dozens of community members came out Thursday night for a special Board of Trustees meeting in Dolton, days after a regular board meeting was set to be held but was canceled by the mayor.

“We’re trying to create normalcy, even through the challenging times. That is the purpose and call for this meeting,” Senior Trustee Jason House said.

The special board meeting was held again in a Dolton Park District facility. Trustees and sworn clerks said they still have not been granted access keys to Village Hall, despite a resolution passed last month to change that.

Trustees in attendance Thursday did not vote on any items aside from approving meeting minutes. They did, however, discuss several agenda items, including the reportedly dire financial state of the village, and allegations of sexual misconduct involving a trustee, recently reported on by WGN Investigates.

Neither Mayor Tiffany Henyard nor two of her close allies on the board were present at the meeting. Last month, the three were also absent as a resolution calling for an investigation into Henyard and her spending of village funds, was approved.

“The Board of Trustees have received evidence that Mayor Henyard has improperly appointed village employees without Village Board advice and consent; has hired convicted felons; has used police personnel for her own personal security detail which has caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of overtime within the police department; has taken lavish trips with Village staff; and has caused the Village to be in a multi-million dollar deficit,” the resolution read.

Since late February, it has been a figurative game of ping pong between the mayor and the board of trustees that voted to approve the resolution. At a March 4 meeting, Henyard vetoed the resolution, a move anticipated by trustees involved in passing it.

“To my staff, I apologize for all the mess that the board of trustees have created,” Henyard said.

The resolution is tabled for a future meeting, where trustees plan to override the Mayor’s veto. While the topic was not discussed Thursday, financial woes were at the forefront of the discussion by board members and community members who spoke at the podium.

“I just want to reiterate to everyone. We are in bad shape,” Trustee Kiana Belcher said.

The mayor is facing accusations she misused village funds, improperly appointed employees, spent money on unapproved services, and withheld financial records from the board.

“We can only say as of September 2023 where we were. We’re in March 2024 and we have no idea how much debt we’re really in,” Belcher. “To see every day emails come to us saying ‘you’re seven months past due, you’re five months past due, you’re six months past due,’ makes us realize that no one is sitting here doing what they’re supposed to do in reference to maintaining the finances of the Village of Dolton.”

Belcher called on the state to step in and force the release of financial records. She said they also want to know whether an audit has been completed.

“Who is gonna save us? Somebody has to save Dolton,” Trustee Tammy Brown said.

WGN Investigates is still waiting on spending records the attorney general ordered the village turn over.

Last year, WGN Investigates submitted a public records request to the village, seeking copies of the agency’s credit card statements, along with other financial records. After Dolton declined to release the records, an apparent violation of state law, WGN Investigates filed an appeal with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

In a rare binding opinion, dated Feb. 9, the attorney general ordered Dolton to release the requested statements and documents. While the village had until March 15 to comply, it failed to meet the deadline.

Another item on the agenda discussed Thursday night was recent allegations of alleged sexual misconduct involving a village trustee, who WGN News is not naming, because he has not been charged with a crime.

According to a pair of complaints filed with the Illinois Department of Human Rights, a Dolton trustee is accused of sexual misconduct with a village employee while on a taxpayer-funded trip to Las Vegas.

The trustee vehemently denied the allegations when he spoke with WGN Investigates.

“The reason that this was put on here is there were terrible allegations that many people are aware of for the Village of Dolton,” said House. “As a board member we also recognize this comes with a lot of potential liability or cost to the residents of Dolton.”

Mayor Henyard’s administration denied allegations it retaliated against either employee for coming forward as they claimed.

“This is nothing more than two disgruntled Village employees who are trying to make off with the taxpayers hard earned dollars,” read a statement released by Henyard’s publicist. Henyard’s team says an unidentified third-party company was brought in to investigate the allegations.

House said the board is seeking information on any contract hiring of an independent investigation into recent allegations, any invoices and receipts for payment made to an independent investigator, and any reports or findings generated by the independent investigator.

As reported by WGN Investigates, both complaints were filed by the same attorney on the same day. The Illinois Department of Human Rights said it accepted the complaints but had only just begun its investigation into the allegations.

“We’ve tried to do the best we can to get information so that we can share it and at this point, having or not having information, we feel compelled that we at least share with the status of the community of what we think about it and what directions we’re going to try to take to be responsible.”

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