Lori Lightfoot releases findings of investigation into Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard – NBC Chicago

Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot delivered her final summary of the investigation into possible mismanagement of the village of Dolton’s funds by Mayor Tiffany Henyard on Monday night.

With the investigation complete, the former mayor said she hopes the small village will right the ship – and get back to transparency and good government.

Monday’s meeting at the Dolton Park District was packed with eager residents waiting to hear the results.

“I’m happy that the report is out, so residents know the truth,” said Minister Deborah White, a Dolton resident.

“Still shocked that this happened and that the government didn’t step in,” added another resident, Valerie Williams.

Lightfoot said she used witness testimony – emails and other documents – for her probe.

With no subpoena power – she said she ran into some challenges, but still managed to get the job done. Henyard did not attend the meeting.

Lightfoot was tasked with looking into allegations of irregularities regarding financial mismanagement.

Here are some of her key findings:

• Credit card expenditures never approved and no receipts
• More than $170,000 in travel-related costs from 2021 to June 2024
• $51,000 spent at area restaurants
• More than $218,000 for Amazon purchases made with village credit cards from Jan. 2021 through June 2024
• One of the largest purchases was almost $50,000 in supplies for the village’s skating rink

As for litigation, 48 separate lawsuits were filed against the village – 12 for alleged Freedom of Information Act violations.

Regarding two trips taken to Las Vegas, Lightfoot said no business opportunities came to the village as a result. She also said the mayor’s ex-assistant, who said she was assaulted by a trustee on the 2023 trip, didn’t cooperate with her investigation, nor did any other key witnesses.

As for the federal investigation, Lightfoot said she doubts anything will happen before next month’s election. She also touched on the new administration.

“I am not really worried about the new administration,” she said. “I don’t believe the federal investigation should be impacted, but there is no way to tell.”

As for recommendations, Lightfoot said she gave some regarding finance and personnel to trustees – and they have started to implement them.

Lightfoot said a website will be set up to answer questions that weren’t answered on Monday night. NBC Chicago reached out to Henyard’s attorney for comment and was still awaiting a response as of late Monday.