Embattled “Dictator of Dolton” Mayor Tiffany Henyard received a major blow Monday from a supposed ally of hers in her ongoing battle against fraud charges following reports of lavish spending while in office.
Thornton Parish Council member Carmen Carlisle accused the 41-year-old self-proclaimed “super mayor” of engaging in “unethical and predatory behaviour” to “gain influence” in the community.
“Today, I am breaking my silence and speaking out against Thornton Township Supervisor and Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard, who I believe has engaged in unethical and predatory behavior during her tenure in office,” said board member Carmen Carlisle. I wrote a letter to WGN.
“Over the past two years, Mr. Henyard has manipulated employees, vendors and residents, using his position to extend his influence and create a false image of success funded by the hardworking taxpayers of Thornton Township and the Village of Dolton,” Carlisle said.
Henyard, who was elected in 2021, has faced mounting allegations of misconduct during his time in office, including misuse of taxpayer funds.
The whistleblower director said he had kept quiet about lavish trips and other extravagant spending at recent board meetings because he “trusted management.”
The board then voted to impose limits on spending on special events and on credit card usage.
“I am standing up not only for myself, but for others who I believe have been harmed by Henyard's abusive leadership,” Carlisle said in a statement. “I believe there are many more victims who have been retaliated against, fired and lied to by Henyard but have yet to speak up.”
Henyard refused to stay silent about his once-loyal board members, instead giving them new nicknames as he placed the blame for this farce on “everyone.”
“I'm going to give you a new nickname: 'Liar Carlisle,'” Henyard told a packed house at a special meeting called by Carlisle and another board member on Aug. 15. “I'm sick of everyone here. There has to be a show all the time.”
Carlyle, a former assistant to Henyard before being appointed to the board to fill a vacancy in May 2023, explained that he never questioned spending until he no longer trusted Henyard's administration.
“At the end of the day,” Henyard said. The Lansing Journal“You were on this committee. We never talked about this, right? So you should have put in the same energy a year ago, a few months ago, when not a word was uttered.”
“The reason I didn't ask questions is because I trusted the administration. I trusted the process. The moment I stopped trusting the process, I started asking questions,” Carlisle countered.
According to the outlet, Carlisle and board member Chris Gonzalez called the special meeting after multiple requests to add the item to the regular meeting agenda were ignored.
Carlyle and Gonzalez have been demanding financial documents from Henyard's early days in the company.
“I worked as your assistant. I saw a lot. I heard a lot. … What really made me question my support of you was when you said on a national platform that you didn't know anything about the Foundation. But you forget that I was in certain rooms when certain events happened.”
Henyard denies that the Tiffany A. Henyard Cares Foundation is hers.
The foundation, which aims to support cancer patients, received the $10,000 donation from the town council on the same day it was approved by the state government in September 2022, documents seen by the foundation showed. Illinois Answers Project and FOX 32.
A month later, Henyard organized a 10-day cross-state bicycle trip to Springfield on behalf of his foundation, paying $11,000 in total for most of the trip's expenses, including hotels, restaurants, a photographer, a DJ, and equipment, on the Dalton family's credit card.
Earlier this month, Dolton Police Deputy Chief Lewis Lacey, a close aide to Henyard, was charged in a nine-count indictment with bankruptcy fraud and other crimes.
Lacey was accused of conspiring to conceal assets and income in order to defraud creditors and avoid paying settlements related to past litigation. This was announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois..
