Conflict over whether a trustee could participate remotely brought Tuesday’s Thornton Township Board meeting to an abrupt end, with no action taken on approval of a budget and ethics related policy changes.
Because only three board members were physically present, Trustees Chris Gonzalez and Carmen Carlisle needed Supervisor Tiffany Henyard’s approval to bring Trustee Stephanie Wiedeman into the meeting via Zoom. Wiedeman was absent due to a “child care conflict,” Carlisle said.
“You cannot go via Zoom if you do not have an illness or anything like that,” Henyard said before voting against Wiedeman’s participation. “Our meetings are in person and everybody should be here to take care of the business.”
Township attorney Tiffany Nelson-Jaworski, who was on Zoom, said child care issues are among acceptable reasons for a board member to participate remotely.
“I do believe that she has a valid reason under the Open Meetings Act,” Nelson-Jaworski told the board.
Tuesday’s meeting was the first public meeting Henyard attended since losing her Democratic primary bid for reelection as mayor of Dolton. Henyard has not commented publicly on the Feb. 25 election, during which Dolton Trustee Jason House received 88% of the Democratic vote for mayor, beyond cryptic social media posts.
“Trust the process. Watch my comeback. Stay tuned,” Henyard wrote on Facebook on Feb. 27. “Wait y’all thought I was finish — hell no.”
Henyard is under federal investigation, with subpoenas delivered to Dolton Village Hall and Thornton Township offices last spring. Henyard is township supervisor and is running as a write-in candidate for a full term, after being blocked from being part of the Democratic caucus that chose state Sen. Napoleon Harris as its candidate.
Henyard did not immediately immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment from the Daily Southtown.
On Tuesday’s meeting agenda was the township budget proposal, which was tabled at the past two meetings.
The board briefly discussed its 2025 budget proposal last month, revised from the budget repeatedly put forth by Henyard but never passed. Wiedeman said at the time the trustees’ proposal put forth a balanced budget, which Henyard’s proposal was not.
The proposals for general fund, general assistance fund and road and bridge fund are available at thorntontownship.com. The 2025 general fund proposal budgets $13.3 million in expenses, with $5.8 million going toward administration, $1.8 million toward the senior services department and $1.7 million toward the community outreach and engagement department.
The 2024 general fund budget showed the township receiving $16 million in revenue and spending about $15 million over the course of the fiscal year.
Other agenda items included policies aimed at holding township officials accountable. They include a “whistleblower protection policy” as well as an ethics ordinance and policy.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
