Embattled “Dolton Dictator” Mayor Tiffany Henyard received a major blow Monday from a presumed ally in her ongoing fight against fraud accusations following reports of lavish spending while in office.
Thornton Township Board trustee Carmen Carlisle accused the 41-year-old self-proclaimed “supermayor” of “unethical and predatory behavior” to “increase her influence” in the community.
“Today, I am breaking my silence and speaking out against Thornton Township Supervisor and Mayor of Dolton Tiffany Henyard, who I believe has engaged in unethical and predatory behavior throughout her tenure,” trustee Carmen Carlisle wrote to WGN.
“For the past two years, Henyard has manipulated employees, vendors, and residents, using her position to increase her influence, all while projecting 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 maleficence in office, including misuse of taxpayer funds.
The whistleblowing trustee said she remained quiet about the lavish trips and other outlandish spending at recent board meetings because she “trusted the administration.”
The board of trustees has since voted to add restrictions on spending for special events and access to credit cards.
“I am standing up, not just for myself, but for others who have been affected by what I see as Henyard’s abusive leadership,” Carlisle’s statement said. “I believe there are many more victims who have been retaliated against, fired or lied to by Henyard, but have yet to speak out.”
Henyard didn’t remain quiet against the once loyal trustee, coining a new nickname while blaming “everyone” for the charade.
“I think I’m going to get you a new nickname: ‘Lyin’ Carlisle,’” Henyard said in front of a packed audience at a special meeting called by Carlisle and another trustee on Aug. 15. “I’m tired of everyone in here. There always has to be a show.”
Carlisle, a former assistant to Henyard before being appointed a trustee to fill a vacancy in May 2023, explained she never questioned the spending until she stopped trusting Henyard’s administration.
“At the end of the day,” Henyard said according to the Lansing Journal, “you was on this board. We never talked about this, right? So you shoulda been puttin’ this same energy in play when you weren’t saying a word a year ago, some months ago.”
“The reason I didn’t ask questions was because I trusted the administration. I trusted the process. The moment I didn’t trust the process, I started asking questions,” Carlisle shot back.
Carlisle and trustee Chris Gonzalez called the special meeting after their continuous requests to add items to regular meeting agendas were ignored, the outlet reported.
Carlisle and Gonzalez have been requesting financial documentation since the beginning of Henyard’s appointment.
“I worked as your assistant. I saw a lot. I heard a lot. … The first time I ever really questioned supporting you is when you went on this national platform and you said you didn’t know anything about a foundation. But you forget that I was in certain rooms when certain things happened.”
Henyard has denied that the Tiffany A. Henyard Cares Foundation is hers.
The foundation, which purports to support cancer patients, was given a $10,000 donation from the town board in Sept. 2022, the same day it was chartered with the state, according to documents reviewed by Illinois Answers Project and FOX 32.
A month later, Henyard organized a 10-day walk and bike ride across the state to Springfield in the name of her foundation, but charged most of the trip to the Dolton credit card, totaling $11,000 in hotels, restaurants, photographers, DJs, and supplies.
Earlier this month, Dolton Deputy Police Chief Lewis Lacey, a close ally of Henyard, was charged with a nine-count indictment for bankruptcy fraud and other charges.
Lacey was accused of scheming to hide assets and income to trick creditors and avoid paying a settlement tied to a past lawsuit, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced.
