New Thornton Township supervisor to be sworn in to replace Tiffany Henyard

THORNTON TWP., Ill. - A new supervisor will be sworn in to lead Thornton Township on Monday, ending the controversial tenure of Tiffany Henyard.

Napoleon Harris III, who also serves as a state senator, will be sworn in as supervisor at a meeting scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

Other officials will also be sworn in, including Casey Nesbit as the township clerk, Cassandra Holbert Elston as the assessor, Antwon Russell as highway commissioner, and trustees Bryon Stanley, Christopher Gonzalez, Mary Carolyn Avent, and Valeria Stubbs.

The backstory:

Harris scored a commanding victory in the April 1 consolidated election with almost 74% of the vote in a crowded field.

He had already won the Democratic nomination over Henyard, but she still tried to run as a write-in candidate in the general election. She earned a little over 1% of the vote.

Harris represents the 15th District in the Illinois Senate and played professional football in the NFL for seven seasons after playing his college ball at Northwestern University.

Thornton Township is the largest township in the state with approximately 185,000 residents across 17 municipalities, according to the government website.

Controversial tenure:

Henyard’s time as supervisor was marred by controversy, disputes with trustees, financial struggles and even a brawl that broke out at a January board meeting.

Residents were frustrated with the infighting, and some thought was a lack of transparency from her administration.

Henyard also lost her seat as the mayor of Dolton and a similarly scandal-plagued tenure in that position. Jason House was sworn in earlier this month as Dolton’s new mayor.