Dolton officials and staff made the village’s financial coffers their own ATM, at least last year, according to credit card statements that show tens of thousands of dollars in spending, much on travel.
Officials visited cities including Atlanta, Austin, Texas, Las Vegas and Portland, in some instances overlooking less-expensive economy hotel chains in favor of more opulent accommodations such as the Four Seasons in Atlanta or the Crowne Plaza in Portland, records obtained by the Daily Southtown through the state’s Freedom of Information Act show.
Hotel spending for those the Atlanta and Portland trips topped $4,500, and that’s apart from airfare and dining charges, records show.
Airline tickets in some instances included extra fees for seat upgrades, and charges for excess baggage, according to the statements, which include American Express and Fifth-Third Bank cards issued to Dolton.
Village Trustee Jason House said Dolton has spending checks and balances already in place that are being ignored, and that “it’s common sense that’s being violated.”
He is poised to challenge Mayor Tiffany Henyard in next year’s election.
“She was a trustee for eight years and she knows better than to do first-class trips on village money,” House said Thursday, after reviewing the card statements and other documents.
He said he and other village trustees are “working on how we fix this and keep avoiding mistakes.”
The credit card statements show spending over several months of 2023, with it not being uncommon for monthly charges of $20,000 to $60,000, according to the records, previously obtained by other Chicago-area media.
Statements also show significant outlays for grocery related items over a period of several months in 2023, but most of the shopping was done outside of Dolton, such as in Homewood, Orland Park and South Holland.
Dolton has two locations of Fairway Finer Foods, a local grocery chain, and there is also a Food 4 Less store, but none of the credit card bills show village officials or staff charging items there.
For some travel, such as trips to downstate Illinois, officials settled on less-pricey hotels, such as Best Western, Hampton Inn or a Holiday Inn. One difficult-to-explain hotel charge for a one-night stay September 2023 included several rooms at a Holiday Inn in Matteson, costing taxpayers almost $1,400, according to the statements.
The statements don’t identify who made individual card transactions and, in some instances, purchases were made with a card at two different locations on the same day in different parts of the country.
For example, bills show $862 spent July 11, 2023, at Portland’s Crowne Plaza hotel, and another charge the same day is for $500 at Walmart in Orland Hills.
The card statements would appear to support longstanding claims by some Dolton trustees that village spending under Henyard’s administration has soared, and they have been largely kept in the dark about what money is coming in or going out.
Dolton’s budget year started May 1, but village officials have not discussed what the spending plan will look like for this fiscal year, which ends next April 30.
Four trustees who are at odds with Henyard hired former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to investigate spending by Henyard’s administration, which has been beset recently by federal subpoenas and indictments of top officials under her.
In a public presentation early August, Lightfoot outlined tens of thousands of dollars in credit card spending, but noted that, per the village’s accounting and auditing firm, receipts for purchases were not easily obtained.
Lightfoot did not have detailed credit card spending information, which the newly released documents show, but portrayed a village spending beyond its means.
During a meeting packed with residents, Lightfoot gave a bleak financial picture, saying that records she had been able to get showed a spending deficit of at least $3.6 million, with Dolton sitting on more than $6 million in checks owed to village vendors that it can’t afford to pay.
The village’s fiscal year runs from May 1 to April 30, and Lightfoot said no annual financial reports are available beyond fiscal year 2021. Henyard became mayor in May 2021.
There have been no audited annual financial statements since that time, and Dolton has failed to file reports on its spending and income with the state, Lightfoot said.
One aspect of Lightfoot’s investigation focused on a May 2023 trip to Las Vegas by Dolton and Thornton Township officials. Henyard is also supervisor in the township, which includes Dolton.
The trip was for economic development purposes, according to the village. Officials attended the annual International Council of Shopping Centers convention, where municipal officials often attend to pitch their towns to retail developers.
A now ex-Dolton employee recently filed a federal lawsuit naming Henyard, the village, Thornton Township and a village official that accuses the village official of performing nonconsensual sex with the employee after she had “blacked out” during the trip.
Credit card statements show spending on meals in Las Vegas during the trip topped $1,100.
A trip in July 2023 to Austin resulted in credit card charges for car rental, lodging and meals, including the upscale Ruth’s Chris Steak House, topping $9,000, the records show.
Another trip, to Portland in July of last year, resulted in credit card bills of $100 at Ruth’s Chris and excess baggage fees of $300 in total for Henyard and Darlene Gray-Everett, a Thornton Township trustee.
Along with federal subpoenas being served at Dolton Village Hall and Thornton Township offices in South Holland, Thornton Township High School District 205 received a subpoena to provide a grand jury all records related to Henyard, Henyard’s campaign fund, and two businesses and a nonprofit previously operated by Henyard.
District officials were scheduled to testify at a federal courthouse in Chicago May 20, according to the subpoena obtained from the district.
Records sought include any payments District 205 made to Henyard and the other entities, any agreements or contracts, and descriptions of services provided. District 205 officials, including all members of the school board, did not respond to requests for information on the district’s ties to Henyard and entities she has controlled.
The businesses named include Henyard’s Good Burger, a restaurant that operated at South Suburban College, and Aeisha Properties, a realty company that was based in Dolton. Both businesses were dissolved by the secretary of state’s office in 2022, according to the state’s business directory.
The Tiffany Henyard CARES foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Henyard in 2022, was also named as part of the subpoena. The foundation was notified that it was not in good standing by the attorney general’s office in February and ordered to register with the state.
The Facebook page for the foundation states CARES stands for Cancer and Remission Empowering Survivors, but little other information is posted.
State records show Henyard as president of both Good Burger and Aeisha Properties. The listed address for Aeisha Properties, on Dobson Avenue in Dolton, is under the name Joan Henyard and is delinquent more than $20,000 in property taxes from the past two years alone, according to the county treasurer’s website.
Joan Henyard declined to say how she was related to Tiffany Henyard but said she was not aware of any connection between District 205 and Aeisha Properties.
South Suburban College did not respond immediately to requests for information about Good Burger. The address listed on the secretary of state website showed a residence on Burnham Avenue in Dolton also in Joan Henyard’s name.