Tiffany Henyard misses meetings for two suburban Chicago governing body boards in one night
DOLTON, Ill. (CBS) -- In this new year, Dolton Mayor and Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard made a decision to skip two meetings in the same day.
As a result, many have been left wondering what Henyard's next move will be as the primary election draws near.
Meetings were to be held Monday for the boards of both political entities of which Henyard is chief executive—Thornton Township and the Village of Dolton. Henyard showed up to neither.
Before the first Dolton Village Board meeting of 2025 started Monday night, fired-up residents came out. In a new year, there were still some old grievances—with folks still frustrated the ongoing lack of transparency from Mayor Henyard.
The mayor claimed threats were made before the meeting Monday night. At the meeting, an attorney said if there is really a bona fide threat, there is a way for the mayor to cancel the meeting.
Henyard was given 15 extra minutes to arrive, but she never did. The mayor was a no-show for the Monday night Dolton Village Board meeting, which gave residents the chance to express their anger about her days in office.
"Isn't her major accomplishment the $18,000 banners that we all know about on Sibley that were hung up there with her face on it?" a resident said.
Many in the crowd said they were looking forward to the primary election in Dolton next month.
"Go to polls," a woman said. "Vote."
Hours earlier, there was also an emergency meeting of the Thornton Township Board—called by two township trustees to address the lapse in the township insurance policy. The meeting was supposed to begin at 4 p.m., but when the clock showed 4:15 p.m., Henyard was still nowhere to be found.
Because Henyard decided not to show, there was no quorum and the meeting did not happen.
For weeks, trustees Christopher Gonzalez and Carmen Carlisle have avoided showing up to township board meetings—so as to deny Henyard a quorum as a show of protest. Henyard claims Gonzalez and Carlisle's absence forced the township insurance to lapse because they did not vote.
As it stands, Thornton Township has no property, auto, liability, or workers' compensation insurance. There is no indication when this will be resolved.
"This something that could have been taken care of previously. It didn't not have to come to the board," Gonzalez said Monday. "You know, they played a game with it. Now they're in tough spot, because they don't know what to do—because now, companies are saying, 'Hey, we don't want to cover you.'"
The no-show of Henyard left residents at the township board meeting fuming.
"The problem is too many people working for her, but they can't tell you anything," one woman said. "They can't tell you what's going on. They can't tell you why she's not here."
Another woman said it was Henyard, not the trustees who have deliberately missed meetings, who is to blame for the issue with the insurance.
"Residents—see what's going on. It is not Carmen Carlisle and Chris Gonzalez that's stopping the insurance," she said. "Look who's not here."
As it stands, Thornton Township has no property, auto, liability, or workers' compensation insurance. There is no indication when this will be resolved.
"She's a big coward for not showing up for the people," a woman said at the Thornton Township meeting,
Voters in Dolton head to the polls in February for the primary election. Henyard is vying for another term as Dolton mayor, but was kicked off the Democratic ticket for Thornton Township supervisor—a decision she is fighting.
