The troubled Illinois village led by “Dictator of Dalton” Mayor Tiffany Henyard made more than $43,000 in Amazon purchases in one day, despite the municipality’s financial collapse, a new investigation has found.
The report, released amid allegations that Henyard was using local police as bodyguards in suburban Chicago, also found that Dalton spent heavily on out-of-state travel and police overtime.
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot revealed the monstrous financial affair at a meeting Thursday night, months after she was hired at $400 an hour to investigate the village at the behest of village trustees fighting back against Henyard.
“$40,000 on Amazon,” Dolton Trustee Kiana Belcher said after the report was released.
“This is an insult to everyone who lives in the 60419 zip code.”
She even said village taxpayers had been “financially raped.”
“And when you rape someone, you get what you deserve,” Belcher said cryptically, adding, “It’s disgusting.”
Henyard, who began his term in 2021, faces allegations that he misused village funds, used police for personal purposes and engaged in other corruption.
The report was only a preliminary finding and did not directly link the surprise expenditures to Henyard, but Lightfoot said her office had not been very cooperative in the initial stages of the investigation and further investigation is needed.
The report said the village used at least six credit cards, four of which belonged to the police department, one with statements addressed to the village mayor and one with statements addressed to the village.
The assembled residents gasped as Lightfoot recited one staggering number after another.
The shocking figures include purchases of $33,005, $4,715 and $5,609 on Amazon on Jan. 5, 2023. A total of more than $12,000 was spent at Best Buy, Target, Walgreens, Wayfair and giftly.com between May 2023 and December 2023, according to information Lightfoot has had available so far.
Mura’s credit card was also used to fund trips for multiple people to Washington, D.C., Austin, Texas, New York City, Atlanta, Las Vegas and several other locations, according to the report.
Receipts for credit card purchases are rarely provided or accepted by the village board, according to the report.
Mayor Henyard’s office is facing allegations that it fired a staff member who claimed she was sexually assaulted by one of the mayor’s supporters during a taxpayer-funded “economic development” trip to “Sin City.”
Police costs are up 21 percent compared to two years ago, and police overtime costs have jumped by nearly $880,000, according to the report.
Lightfoot said the village’s average monthly expenses have increased by nearly 30% since fiscal year 2022.
She noted the village’s general fund, which is used to pay most of Dalton’s expenses, was in the red by $3.65 million as of May 31. In April 2022, it was in the surplus by $5.61 million.
Lightfoot said since March 2023, the village has struggled to pay all of its monthly bills with the cash it has on hand.
Lightfoot, who served one term as Chicago’s mayor before losing a crushing bid for re-election last year, was previously a lawyer with a prominent Chicago law firm and a federal prosecutor.
Henyard, who is also a Thorntown Township supervisor, also faces a federal criminal investigation that issued a subpoena several months ago demanding reams of business records and financial reports.
Village trustees this week voted to ban Mayor Henyard and other officials from using the village credit card, in hopes of dealing a blow to Mayor Henyard’s power and keeping a tight grip on the village’s purse strings.
Mayor Henyard’s actions have outraged residents, who are calling for the self-proclaimed “super mayor” to resign. Thursday’s report prompted further condemnation.
“I’m really disgusted by what’s going on in this village,” one local woman said during the meeting.
