Let's hope feds can quickly untangle Dolton's web of alleged shady dealings
It's getting to the point where folks in Dolton are going to need a Venn diagram to keep track of the tangle of relationships and alleged corruption connected to the village's self-declared "supermayor" Tiffany Henyard.
The latest: Henyard was the driving force behind some $200,000 in no-bid, no-contract residential construction work given to a suburban construction firm that's been linked to property tax avoidance schemes and bribery, according to a report by Casey Toner of the Illinois Answers Project, also published in Sunday’s Sun-Times.
The firm, O.A.K.K. Construction Co., is owned by Alex Nitchoff, who is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in federal court to bribing a Cook County assessor's office employee to get property tax breaks. The Nitchoff family previously owned a restaurant in Dolton, and the family businesses have given Henyard's political campaign thousands of dollars, the Sun-Times has reported.
A contribution of $5,000 to Henyard in 2022 came just days after O.A.K.K. billed Dolton for $205,000 in no-bid, no-contract construction work at dozens of homes. O.A.K.K. then sent letters to homeowners threatening them with liens against their property when the village board, which hadn't authorized O.A.K.K. to do the work, balked at paying the bills.
The homeowners apparently knew nothing about the arrangement, prompting one homeowner to write in an email to village officials, "I am really confused right now. … This is asinine."
Yes, it is. And unfortunately, it's the kind of fiscal chicanery that seems par for the course for Henyard's administration.
The mayor, who is also Thornton Township supervisor, and some of her associates are among the dozens of businesses, government workers and political leaders named in federal subpoenas issued last month when the FBI raided Dolton's Village Hall seeking city records. Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is also looking into Henyard's spending of village money, at the behest of board trustees who hired Lightfoot back in April.
There's a Gordian knot of alleged shady dealings to look into here: Henyard using township funds to start a cancer foundation that's now under investigation by the Illinois attorney general; the village administrator, indicted for allegedly hiding income and assets in a bankruptcy filing, who was getting paid as Henyard's township adviser and by other villages besides Dolton; Henyard's "boyfriend" who is paid "in excess of $100,000" by the township, according to divorce records.
That's not all, but the point about Venn diagrams or flow charts is clear.
Federal investigations can take months, if not years. We hope that's not the case with Dolton. An investigation of all the allegations against Henyard and others has to be thorough, fair and as swift as possible.
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