The troubled Illinois village led by “Dolton Dictator” Mayor Tiffany Henyard spent more than $43,000 in Amazon purchases in a single day — even as the municipality’s finances are in shambles, according to a damning new probe.
Dolton also spent big bucks on out-of-state trips and police overtime, according to the report released amid amid allegations Henyard is using local police as her personal bodyguards in the Chicago suburb.
Ex-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot revealed the monster money items during a meeting Thursday night, months after she was hired at $400 per hour to probe the village at the direction of trustees fighting back against Henyard.
“$40,000 at Amazon,” Dolton Trustee Kiana Belcher said following the report presentation.
“What a slap in the face to everybody that resides in 60419 zip code.”
She even went so far as to say that village taxpayers have been “financially raped.”
“And when people rape people, they get anything they deserve,” Belcher cryptically said, adding it’s “sickening.”
Henyard, who started her term in 2021, has faced allegations of misusing village funds and engaging in other corruption, including using the police for personal business.
The report, which is only preliminary findings, did not connect the stunning spending directly to Henyard — though Lightfoot said the mayor’s office didn’t offer much cooperation during the first part of her probe and further investigation is needed.
The village has used at least six credit cards, including four by the police department, one that has statements addressed to the village administrator and another that has statements addressed to the village, per the report.
As Lightfoot rattled off one stunning number after the next, residents in the crowd gasped.
The shocking figures include Amazon purchases of $33,005, $4,715, and $5,609 on Jan. 5, 2023. More than $12,000 combined was spent at Best Buy, Target, Walgreens, Wayfair and Giftly.com between May 2023 and December 2023, based on the information Lightfoot obtained so far.
Village credit cards were also used to fund trips for multiple people to Washington, DC, Austin, Texas, New York City, Atlanta, and Las Vegas, as well as a few other spots, the report states.
The receipts for credit card purchases are rarely provided and approved by the village board, according to the report.
Henyard’s office is facing allegations it fired an employee who claimed that she was sexually assaulted by one of the mayor’s supporters during a taxpayer-funded “economic development” trip to Sin City.
Police costs jumped 21% from two years ago, with police overtime spiking by nearly $880,000, according to the report.
Average monthly expenses in the village have jumped almost 30% since the fiscal year in 2022, Lightfoot said.
She noted the village’s general fund, which is used to pay for most of Dolton’s expenses, has a negative balance of $3.65 million as of May 31. In April 2022, it was $5.61 million in the black.
Since March 2023, the village has struggled to pay all its monthly bills with the cash it has, Lightfoot said.
Lightfoot, who served one term as Chicago mayor, was thumped in her re-election bid last year. She was previously an attorney with a well-known Chicago law firm and a federal prosecutor.
Henyard, who is also the supervisor for the Thorntown Township, is also facing a criminal probe carried out by the feds who issued subpoenas for a trove of business records and financial reports a few months ago.
Just this week, village trustees voted to cut off access to village credit cards to Henyard and other officials in a blow to her power and in hopes of keeping village purse strings tighter.
Henyard’s conduct has outraged residents who have called on the self-described “super mayor” to step down. Thursday’s report led to more condemnation.
“I am just so disgusted with what’s going on in this village,” one local woman said during the meeting.
