THORNTON TOWNSHIP, Ill. (WGN) — Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard, the highly publicized politician who is also making headlines as the mayor of south Suburban Dolton, is finding a way to spend money on events that township trustees said they intentionally did not approve, with one trustee calling it a “shell game.”
Event after event proposed by Henyard has been denied by the Thornton Township Board of Trustees under an ordinance designed to rein in spending.
“The residents love the events we do here in Thornton Township and prior to me, y’all have always had events,” Henyard said. “So, I don’t understand why there’s a problem now that Tiffany Henyard is the supervisor.”
The trustees said they won’t greenlight the events because there’s no approved budget yet for the township.
“But we can’t continue to spend money without that in place,” said Chris Gonzalez, one of the township trustees.
The most recent cost causing concern is Henyard’s “Taste of Thornton Township” event last month.
NewsNation affiliate WGN obtained records that show singer Keke Wyatt was paid $30,000 to sing for 30 minutes. Rapper J-Holiday also made $20,000 for a half-hour set.
When factoring in staff, equipment and other expenses, the total cost is at least $85,000, which is lower than what WGN Investigates initially reported, but still raises questions.
“We just had a couple events here in the last month or so where exorbitant amounts of money were spent unnecessarily,” Gonzalez said.
Trustees voted not to approve thousands of dollars in expenditures for the Taste of Thornton Township and other Henyard events, but that money has already been spent.
“A lot of that spending was done on credit cards and we just don’t agree with so much being put on credit cards, and it looks like stuff that we voted not to pay, was then put on credit cards,” Gonzalez said. “So, it’s just kind of almost like a shell game, unfortunately.”
Something that has also developed from the series of events connected to Henyard is that support for the trustees is, at the most, not unanimous from local residents.
“If there isn’t a budget passed, maybe they should do the same for their salary,” said Tamika Price, a Thornton Township resident. “Suspend the salary until they pass a budget.”
Township trustees told WGN News the budget could be ready soon, with it currently being under review by an accountant. At the township board of trustees meeting Tuesday, the board did vote once again to put Henyard’s name on a credit card, despite her protest, for accountability purposes.
