Trustees don't show up to Thornton Township, Illinois Board meeting, citing concerns for their safety
SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. (CBS) -- Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard was the only one to show up for a scheduled meeting of the board of trustees Tuesday night—with others saying they are worried for their own safety.
The most notable difference at the Tuesday night meeting was that everyone entering the township building in South Holland had to go through security.
It is because of lack of security that the trustees opted to not attend Tuesday night—leaving Henyard to make her own address about a variety of topics.
Henyard entered the room to a nearly vacant board table. She gave the clerk a hug, but every other seat next to them was vacant.
"Due to the fact that we do not have a quorum, there will not be an actual voting meeting," Henyard said.
The reason the trustees did not show up, they argue, is due to meetings that have gotten out of control.
"It was about to get physical," trustee Chris Gonzalez said of a recent meeting.
Gonzalez sat out the meeting Tuesday night after he claimed the trustees got no response from Henyard about how she could get the meetings safe.
"I do know the trustee also did send a communication to the state basically requesting help,'" he said, "saying: 'Hey, we need some help here, because this is getting out of control, and you know, someone is going to get hurt.'"
Henyard said she values safety.
"Anyone who personally knows me knows that safety is my top priority," Henyard said.
Henyard said the trustees insisted on having meetings in the basement overflow room. She said she wanted the meeting in Thornton Township Board Chambers, where she sat alone Tuesday night.
"We called our security firm. We made sure they had wands," she said, "and we also told our board to come upstairs due to the fact they had several ways to exit out of the building."
Henyard also implied that this was all a stall tactic by the board.
"To say that it's an antic," Gonzalez said. "Well let's sit down and put something together—a safety plan—and we'll just take it from there. But again, there's no communication."
One trustee did communicate with Henyard and the clerk. Trustee Jerry Jones resigned suddenly, according to Henyard.
"Me, and the board, and also the clerk—we will talk about our steps moving forward filling that vacancy that will come up soon," Henyard said.
Since there was no official business addressed, Henyard took the time to speak about a huge surplus she says exists in the township.
"It's around nine-point-something-million-dollar surplus here in Thornton township," she said.
Henyard added that there are $2 million available to help 25,000 homeowners with their property taxes for which they must apply.
As for Jones' sudden resignation, the reason was unclear late Tuesday. Jones was the senior trustee on the board.
Henyard is also the mayor of Dolton, where a controversy has been swirling around her for some time.
Last month,a judge put a stop to Henyard's plans to appoint new Dolton village leaders on her own, in an order granted Wednesday. Cook County Judge Thaddeus Wilson's order included an injunction that prohibits Henyard from making appointments without the consent of the village board of trustees, and a restraining order prohibits any of her appointees from taking office.
Henyard had appointed a new village manager, village attorney, and police chief—none of whom can take office with the ruling now in place.
All this followed former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot coming in as a special investigator in Dolton—revealing the village's general fund had a negative balance of $3.65 million. That was after a limited examination of Dolton's finances.
Lightfoot was originally hired by trustees concerned about Henyard's spending. The accusations regarding Henyard's spending include self-promoting taxpayer funded billboards, ads, and spending on lavish dinners and trips.
Lightfoot found $40,000 spent on Amazon purchases in one day. This money is unaccounted for.
But former Mayor Lightfoot is not the only one investigating. The FBI is also conducting an investigation at Dolton Village Hall—without elaborating on who is being investigated.