The Chicago Tribune editorial board urged voters to keep Democratic Mayor Tiffany Henyard's excessive spending front of mind as she eyes reelection next year.
In an editorial titled, "Dolton voters should remember Mayor Tiffany Henyard’s taxpayer-funded 5-star hotel stays and fancy meals," the board highlighted Henyard's lavish spending and tax-payer-funded trips, contrasting her over the top lifestyle to that of Dolton residents, a fifth of whom currently live in poverty.
"It is particularly galling that Dolton’s controversial mayor, Tiffany Henyard, and other village officials spent much of last year jet-setting around the country and living lavishly on the taxpayer dime," the board wrote.
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WGN reported in January that Henyard and her entourage racked up $67,000 in charges for trips to Portland, Austin, Atlanta and New York City in a five-month span, all on the taxpayer's dime. In Atlanta, the group stayed at the Four Seasons and reportedly billed taxpayers more than $9,300.
"Taxpayers spent plenty to cover the costs of the trips," the board wrote. "Henyard and other officials’ July 2023 trip to Austin cost taxpayers more than $9,000, a sum that’s hard to imagine."
"If operations at the CTA and the village of Dolton were running smoothly, and constituents had few complaints, there would be fewer questions for these officials on the need for such frequent time on the road, ostensibly on public business," the editorial continued. "But that’s not the reality..."
The self-described "super mayor" has been embroiled in scandal for months and is the subject of a federal investigation following allegations of extravagant tax-payer-spending, corruption, misdeeds and retaliation against co-workers.
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has been tasked with leading a special investigation into the mayor, disclosed that Henyard used the village credit card to make purchases at Amazon, Target, Walgreens, Wayfair and other retailers. One jaw-dropping statement revealed that the embattled mayor had dropped $33,000 on Jan. 5, 2023 on Amazon.
Fox News Digital previously reported that Henyard has been living like a royal with a combined salary of nearly $300,000 — more than the state's governor — despite the 23,000 residents of the Illinois town having a median income of $24,000.
Former colleagues have spoken publicly about the extravagant trips and wreckless spending. Henyard, who typically speaks into a golden microphone at meetings, has also come under fire for an alleged sexual assault by one of her allies during a Las Vegas trip, where the alleged victim claims to have been fired after speaking out. Henyard's cancer charity is also facing scrutiny while FOIA documents revealed she paid a stylist $7,650, over six transactions between April 6 and June 5, 2023.
Last month, the Illinois State Comptroller Office stopped some funds from being allocated to the Village of Dolton over its alleged failure to submit financial records and amid reports that Henyard reappointed a fired deputy police chief to lead the department after he was indicted by a federal grand jury on bankruptcy fraud charges.
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The accusations of financial misdeeds in Dolton have prompted an ongoing FBI investigation. The reports have been a pressure point for the city, which has a population of slightly more than 20,000, according to a July 2023 estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau. She has been called a dictator by some locals.
Dolton's next mayoral election is scheduled for April 2025 after the February 2025 primary. Several Dolton trustees are running to defeat Henyard using the slogan "Clean House 2025."
"We've been locked out. We've been lied to. We've been stolen from as a community by the current mayor and administration, and this must stop," Dolton Trustee Kiana Belcher said, ABC7 reported.
Henyard did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Fox News' Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
