By The Independent (World News) | Created at 2024-09-30 19:30:24 | Updated at 2024-09-30 21:28:10
2 hours ago
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The embattled mayor of a suburban Chicago town — already under investigation for the alleged misuse of municipal funds, including $40,000 worth of Amazon purchases in a single day — is now being thrown out of her home, according to an eviction notice filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
Dolton, Illinois, Mayor Tiffany Henyard and live-in boyfriend Kamal Woods were notified September 18 that they were $3,350 in arrears on their rent and must either pay up or vacate the premises, the notice said.
Reached on Monday by The Independent, landlord Genetta Hull declined to comment further on the situation.
The couple pays $2,400 a month for the apartment, NBC Chicago reported. Their payments are not egregiously late, and it is not known why Hull moved so quickly to evict, according to WGN. Henyard, who earns $300,000 a year as mayor, also serves as supervisor of Thornton Township, where Woods makes $100,000-plus as youth director, according to the nonprofit Illinois Answers Project.
“This is a claim brought under false pretenses,” Henyard’s attorney Beau Brindley told WGN of the eviction proceedings. “I don’t believe proof of missed payment can be produced. This is being driven by other motives and is not a complaint brought in good faith.”
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is heading up a probe into Henyard’s spending; Dolton is more than $3.5 million in the red, according to CBS News Chicago, a burst of seemingly outsized spending Amazon was just one of a plethora of improprieties Lightfoot last month announced she had found. Henyard has also allegedly spent thousands in taxpayer cash on hair and makeup and other personal perks.
Heynard is also accused of billing the city for $67,000 on out-of-town travel during a five-month span in 2023.
In April, FBI agents visited Dolton City Hall to execute a search warrant. However, it remains unclear what they were looking for or who exactly they are investigating.
“The Village of Dolton, once an area of natural prairie and home to Potawatomie, Sac, Illini, and Miami Indians has now grown into a bustling suburban community of over 23,000 residents,” Dolton’s official website tells visitors. “The village was founded by George Dolton who settled in the area with his family in 1835 and began running a ferry company with another resident of the area, J.C. Matthews. In 1866, the village built its first post office and Andrew Dolton, son of George Dolton, served as its postmaster. After a contentious debate, the Village of Dolton became incorporated on December 28, 1892.”
Henyard, according to the village site, was elected in February 2021 with 82 percent of the vote after serving eight years as village trustee. She made history as the first woman mayor of Dolton, as well as the youngest ever.
“As a life-long resident of Dolton, Mayor Henyard is passionate about Dolton and continues to live in the community where she grew up,” her bio reads.
A court date for Henyard and Woods’s eviction proceeding has been set for October 22.
