Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard tried Tuesday to make appointments to posts including police chief that were recently blocked by a judge, and was mocked and ridiculed by residents during her short visit to a trustee-called meeting.
Henyard arrived an hour after the trustees meeting began and tried to give her report, but residents in the audience kept shouting her down.
The mayor, clutching a microphone, stood up and began to talk, saying she had “come here to lay down the law” and exert her authority “as chief executive” by naming Ronnie Burge Sr. as police chief, Michael Smith as village administrator and Angela Lockett as village attorney.
But several people in the crowd also stood up as Henyard tried to talk, with their backs to Henyard and others shouting at Henyard to sit down. The mayor quickly left the meeting about seven minutes after arriving.
Henyard also called all of the trustees at the meeting as corrupt before walking out.
In response to a lawsuit filed by some village trustees, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thaddeus Wilson ruled Sept. 25 Henyard didn’t abide by proper procedure when she named Burge, Smith and Lockett.
Burge and Lockett accompanied Henyard into the meeting, taking seats in the audience along with Max Solomon, an attorney representing the mayor. It was unclear if Smith was also there.
Trustees Andrew Holmes and Stan Brown did not attend the meeting.
Trustees Kiana Belcher, Tammie Brown, Jason House and Brittney Norwood had sued in Cook County Circuit Court seeking a temporary restraining order to block the appointments.
Henyard had made the appointments of Smith and Lockett Sept. 4, during what had been a regularly scheduled board meeting that was canceled by the four trustees and rescheduled for a later date.
It was not clear when Burge was named police chief by the mayor.
By law, appointments or removals by the mayor need to be reviewed and voted on by the full Village Board.
Trustees said that was not the case with the most recent appointments and the judge agreed. In barring Henyard from making the appointments, Wilson also said the three appointees are ineligible to hold the posts.
The meeting was held at the Dolton Park District’s Lester Long Fieldhouse, a much larger building than Village Hall, where board meetings are typically held.
That was done to comply with the Illinois attorney general’s office recent ruling that Dolton violated the state’s Open Meetings Act by failing to provide proper accommodations for residents.
There is limited seating in Village Hall for board meetings, and those entering have to pass through metal detectors.
House, who is running for mayor in February’s Democratic primary, and the three other trustees have previously held special board meetings at the fieldhouse because they are locked out of Village Hall.
Henyard, during her brief visit Tuesday, also tried to veto any actions taken by trustees at the meeting.
Among them was a move to rid the village of costly leases for some vehicles, including those used by the mayor.
Belcher said the leases are “not financially feasible” given Dolton’s economic position and large deficit. One vehicle lease costs the village $2,800 monthly, Belcher said.
Payments on the leases have come automatically from village coffers, and trustees voted Tuesday to halt that practice. House said he’d like the village to simply contact the leasing companies and have them take back the vehicles.
Attorney Michael McGrath, representing the trustees, noted none of the actions Henyard tried to take Tuesday are valid because they were not on the agenda.
House said all trustees and the mayor had the opportunity to include items on the agenda and were given prior notice of the meeting.
House also gave a bleak picture of Dolton’s budget process, with trustees yet to consider a draft of a spending plan for the village’s current fiscal year, which began May 1.
He said if the village followed last year’s budget, spending the same amount this year, the village would have a deficit of $2.8 million. That is on top of whatever spending deficit the village is already in, with the number estimated as being more than $3.5 million.
House said village department heads will be asked to make cuts in their spending, and trustees have said more layoffs are likely to take place to trim costs. He said he hoped the board would have a draft budget ready to consider in a month.
mnolan@southtownstar.com