Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard vetoed action by trustees to hire former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to conduct a probe into the mayor and village finances during a raucous Village Board meeting Monday.
“How dare you think you can come into someone’s town and do work,” Henyard said, saying trustees who voted to hire Lightfoot an an April 8 meeting overstepped their authority.
“There is a right way to do things and this is just not that,” Henyard said in delivering her veto.
It was the first Village Board meeting since federal investigators twice served subpoenas at Village Hall, the most recent delivery seeking documents targeting Henyard and Village Administrator Keith Freeman, who is under indictment for bankruptcy fraud.
Several residents were locked out of Village Hall due to lack of seats, and many of them chanted “hey hey, ho ho, Tiffany has got to go” as they beat on drums and pots and pans outside the building.
The meeting at one point dissolved into a shouting and finger-pointing match between Henyard and Trustee Kiana Belcher, with some residents getting up from their chairs to shout their own comments.
The meeting didn’t get underway until more than 30 minutes after its scheduled start time, and those entering Village Hall walked through metal detectors under the watchful eye of uniformed police.
Barricades had been set up blocking off traffic for a block in front of Village Hall, which itself was ringed with plastic orange barrels tied together with yellow rope. From the rope hung signs that read “Restricted, do not enter.”
Some residents called for Henyard to step down.
“You’re not accountable, you don’t respect people who don’t agree with you, you’re not qualified for that seat,” one woman said.
“We are watching the fall of this administration,” said Edward Steave, a former Dolton resident.
“We want better in our community,” Steave said. “We got to get her out.”
Another woman said residents who want to see change need to register to vote and organize ahead of next year’s municipal elections.
“It’s going to take God, it’s going to take votes and it’s going to take all us coming together,” she said.
Four trustees who are at odds with Henyard voted April 8 to hire Lightfoot for $400 an hour to conduct her own investigation of the mayor, including a May 2023 trip to Las Vegas.
A new federal subpoena delivered recently to Dolton Village Hall seeks detailed records about trips made by village officials and expenses they were reimbursed for, as well as payments made to Henyard and Freeman, according to the document.
The new subpoena asks for payment disbursement information from the village, including expense reimbursements and credit card expenditures, to Henyard and Freeman as well as businesses operated or controlled by Freeman – Keith Freeman LLC and Government Staffing Advisors, according to the document.
Freeman, an Orland Park resident, also works as a manager with Thornton Township, where Henyard is supervisor.
He was indicted on a charge of bankruptcy fraud last month and pleaded not guilty during an April 24 hearing, according to a court filing. He is due back in court June 5.
Records related to trips taken by village elected officials and other personnel are also being requested, including expense reports and credit card receipts, according to the recent subpoena. Trips include visits in October 2022 to Springfield, in March 2023 to Washington, D.C., and in May 2023 to Las Vegas.
An earlier subpoena focused primarily on Freeman, seeking any Dolton records pertaining to business entities owned or operated by Freeman, including Keith Freeman LLC and Government Staffing Advisors.
That subpoena also seeks any village-held records concerning other Freeman interests, including Colab Leaders, Colab Equity Crowd Funding, Freeman Ventures and Heirs 2 Heaven, according to the document.
Illinois secretary of state records indicate that Government Staffing Advisors, incorporated in July of last year, is the only Freeman-controlled business entity still operating.
Keith Freeman LLC, which was organized in March 2018, was dissolved in September 2022, according to secretary of state records. Freeman Ventures later became Colab Equity Crowd Funding Inc., which was then dissolved in January of last year, according to records.
According to prosecutors, Freeman, who filed for bankruptcy in early January of this year, tried to conceal assets and sources of income both prior to and after filing in federal bankruptcy court.
At one point he’s alleged to have created a bank account under the control of Government Staffing Advisors, where he deposited money he made from the township, then later, after filing for bankruptcy, had his pay from Dolton directed to the Government Staffing account, according to the indictment.
Freeman earns about $100,000 annually from his village job, according to the indictment, while a filing in his bankruptcy case shows he makes about $98,000 annually with Thornton Township.
mnolan@southtownstar.com
