Dolton swears in new mayor, ending Tiffany Henyard's scandal-plagued tenure

DOLTON, Ill. - The Village of Dolton officially has a new mayor, marking the end of the tumultuous tenure of Tiffany Henyard.

Mayor Jason House, who overwhelmingly defeated Henyard in February’s primary race and won last month’s municipal election, was sworn in on Monday evening, along with Clerk Alison Key, and Trustees Kiana Belcher, Brittney Norwood, and Edward Steave.

The backstory:

Dolton gained national attention after allegations of Henyard’s questionable spending and federal investigations into her came to light.

House, a Dolton native who has served as a village trustee during Henyard’s term as mayor, campaigned against her to "clean house" as the village faced a seemingly unending slew of negative headlines.

In April 2024, the FBI served subpoenas at Dolton Village Hall amid allegations of corruption against local officials, although Henyard was not served. Dolton trustees voted to hire former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to investigate Henyard. Lightfoot revealed the village’s general fund balance fell from a $5.6 million surplus to a $3.6 million deficit and that village credit card charges amounted to more than $779,000 in 2023 alone. The village owed vendors an estimated $5 million.

House has said audits for the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years will be conducted to address the concerns over financial mismanagement.

Another subpoena was served at the village last February, which was tied to a land development allegedly linked to land once owned by Henyard’s boyfriend.

Henyard’s tenure as supervisor of Thornton Township was also plagued by scandal and heated meetings, including one that ended in a brawl.