Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was hired as the “special investigator” in charge of probing the spending habits of Mayor Tiffany Henyard of the village of Dolton, Illinois.
Dolton trustees voted in favor of a resolution for Lightfoot to be paid $400 per hour to investigate the “worst mayor in America” for her lavish spending on five-star hotels and first-class travel. Henyard was not present at the meeting that appointed Lightfoot and is expected to veto the action as illegal.
“The people in this village want something different. They want to go in a different direction,” Lightfoot said at Monday’s meeting for her appointment as “special investigator.”
Last month, village trustees convened at a meeting to discuss bringing an outside investigator to look into Henyard’s trips. In 2023, Henyard was accompanied by two village trustees and some village employees on a trip to Las Vegas. While the previous investigation into the trip did not find any wrongdoing, Trustee Jason House, who was not on the trip, said the investigation was not conducted in good faith.
“This is about more than getting the financial documentation for the board members,” Trustee Jason House said. “This would empower the state to actually issue the check once it’s been voted on by the board.”
Trustees want Lightfoot to investigate Henyard’s trip to Las Vegas. Under the terms of the agreement, Lightfoot will give a full summary of her findings when the bill for her work reaches $30,000.
Lightfoot does not work for a law enforcement agency and, therefore, would not have the right to issue subpoenas. She asked for “the full cooperation of the mayor” and her staff.
“I’m expecting there will be some roadblocks,” Lightfoot said. “I am a very determined person.”
A law firm representing Dolton warned the trustees that appointing Lightfoot may be beyond their scope of work. They said trustees “do not have the power to investigate, or to retain someone to investigate” and warned that Henyard would not approve payments to Lightfoot.
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Henyard’s time as mayor has been riddled with controversy. She has been accused of embezzling taxpayer funds, retaliating against a victim of sexual assault, and has been called the “worst Mayor in America.” Henyard, a Democrat, describes herself as a “Super Mayor.”
More recently, in February, Henyard announced a $1 million giveaway on Facebook, which puzzled many Dolton residents in the wake of the controversy surrounding her spending habits and rising crime in the Chicago suburb.