Self-proclaimed 'Super Mayor' threatens opponents amid financial probe, FBI involvement

The self-proclaimed "Super Mayor" of an Illinois community threatened her opponents on Facebook Live amid a potential federal probe and accusations of financial mismanagement.

On the heels of announcing her reelection bid for mayor of Dolton on Oct. 15, Tiffany Henyard hopped on Facebook Live for about an hour and a half on Tuesday evening to speak to her constituents. She began the broadcast following a Thornton Township Trustees meeting that was canceled due to lack of quorum, she explained during the live broadcast.

“I will be seeking arrests for individuals involved,” Henyard said. “I will be pressing charges. It’s a lot. And that’s just me telling you a little bit. All this pointing the finger at Tiffany − or lying on me − I’m over it. Now it’s time for me to speak."

Paste BN contacted Henyard's office on Friday but has not received a response.

In a Sept. 15 Facebook post, Henyard wrote that "people been lying and putting these fake stories out on me just for views, likes and to create a negative public opinion of me."

"When they cannot control someone they do a smear campaign," the post continued. "Let me make myself crystal clear. Nobody puts baby in a corner."

Here's what to know about Henyard and the tension within the Village of Dolton, which has about 21,000 residents and is just south of Chicago.

Lori Lightfoot, FBI looked into Tiffany Henyard

The drama comes after several spats that Henyard had with a majority of the Village of Dolton's Board Trustees. Some board members, whom Henyard said want "power and a money grab," have accused her of mishandling the village's finances. To prove the alleged misconduct, they hired former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to conduct an independent probe.

“As of May 30 of this year, the village’s general fund was in a net deficit position,” Lightfoot announced in August, according to the Chicago Defender.

According to Lightfoot, Dolton's general fund balance is $3.65 million in debt, which is quite a difference from the more than $5.6 million in funds the village had in April 2022, the outlet reported. Henyard was elected mayor of the village in 2021 and appointed Thornton Township supervisor in 2022.

Lightfoot was not the only one looking into the village. CBS News reported that the FBI is also investigating Dolton Village Hall. Federal agents searched the hall in April, but have not announced what exactly they are or were investigating, according to the outlet.

"The standard policy of the Department of Justice prevents the FBI from commenting on the nature, existence, or nonexistence of any investigation that may be occurring," the FBI's Chicago office told Paste BN.

Henyard's own finances have also come into question as she and her boyfriend, Kamal Woods, are facing eviction after not paying their rent since August, their landlord Genetta Hull, told WFLD-TV. The two of them make more than $300,000 from taxpayers' money, according to public payrolls, the outlet reported.

Who is Tiffany Henyard?

A lifelong resident of Dolton, Henyard received a degree in business administration from Robert Morris University Illinois before working on then-governor Pat Quinn's "Put Illinois to Work" initiative in 2011, according to Citizen Newspaper Group.

Henyard got into politics after attending a block party where she heard residents’ concerns, including fixing streets, filling potholes and correcting water bills, she told the Citizen Newspaper Group before becoming mayor.

“I noticed they needed a voice of reason, and I had to be that voice, for my neighborhood, for my block (and) for my family,” she said, according to the outlet.

Before running for mayor, Henyard, then 37, was the youngest trustee on the Village of Dolton's board.

“I’ve sat on that board for eight years and I feel that I can do more in moving up in a leadership role. Because right now, today, nothing is being answered, nothing is being done,” she told the Citizen Newspaper Group. "I want to show people that I am their strength and Dolton needs me. I’ve always been there no matter what since day one."

Tiffany Henyard sued Village of Dolton trustees

Earlier this month, Henyard filed a lawsuit against a group of village trustees, accusing them of illegally holding a board meeting.

The suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Oct. 8 is against the Dolton Park District, village clerk Alison Key, village administrator Keith Freeman and village trustees Tammie Brown, Brittney Norwood, Jason House, and Kiana Belcher, according to court records accessed by Paste BN.

Henyard's lawsuit stems from the four trustees named in the suit holding a board meeting at a Park District building on Oct. 7, while she and two other trustees − Andrew Holmes and Stanley Brown − tried to hold the meeting at Village Hall, CBS News reported.

The agenda for the meeting at Village Hall was signed by Henyard on Oct. 4 and posted, but another agenda was "mysteriously posted" alongside it and called for the meeting at the Dolton Park District Lester Long Building, according to the lawsuit, CBS News reported.

Henyard's lawsuit seeks a court order declaring Village Hall as the primary location for board meetings, and prohibiting the Park District from hosting any future meetings, according to CBS News. The complaint also seeks to have any business conducted at the meeting held at the Park District deemed invalid, the outlet said.

The next court date for this lawsuit is on Dec. 11, Cook County Circuit Court records show.

This story has been updated to fix a typo.