Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard's taxpayer-funded billboards raise questions
DOLTON - If you've driven one of the expressways in Chicago's south suburbs recently, you have no doubt seen one of the giant billboards featuring the name and face of a smiling local politician.
But you may not know the money for the billboards is coming out of your pocket, which is raising new questions for Tiffany Henyard, the mayor of Dolton and the Thornton Township Supervisor, who has already come under fire for spending public money promoting herself.
Take a drive to the south suburbs and you can't miss them. Four billboards featuring Tiffany Henyard's name in large letters, along with her picture, smiling down on the thousands of cars going by on Interstate 57 and the Bishop Ford Expressway.
What are they advertising? One says "Fresh Produce," another "Senior Services," and another simply says "We Offer General Assistance." There's a phone number, but you wouldn't know what it's for unless you can read the tiny letters "Thornton Township Supervisor" as you're speeding by.
FOX 32 Chicago showed the billboards to Burt Odelson, an election attorney who's been working in Illinois politics for 50 years.
"When I first looked at it, I thought what's she running for now? Because that's what it shouts out," he said.
Odelson, who represents a political faction opposed to Henyard in Dolton, says it's clear the billboards are promoting more than township services. He says they're essentially campaign ads.
"This is a blatant attempt to promote herself politically," Odelson said. "The township should not have paid for these if they did. And I'm sure they did."
They did, indeed. Bills obtained by FOX 32 under open records laws show Thornton Township paid more than $10,000 for the vinyl signs themselves and more than $12,000 to Clear Channel Outdoor Advertising for one month's rental of the billboards.
"Well, first of all, I didn't know anything about them," said Thornton Township Trustee Chris Gonzalez.
He says the board was never consulted about the billboards, which he says needed their approval.
"Some of the first things that popped into my mind are, what are we doing? This isn't a big sale. We're not selling cars here. If it's informational, then it should be informational," Gonzalez said. "There are so many other ways we could have spent that money that would have directly helped people."
This isn't the first time Henyard has used tax dollars to burnish her own personal image. In fact, on other occasions, she's spent a lot more.
Investigative report reveals Dolton residents are shelling out big bucks for mayor's security detail
It's not unusual for the mayor of a big city like Chicago to have a security detail, but residents of south suburban Dolton, with a population of a little more than 20,000, are shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for police to drive and protect their mayor.
Earlier this year, FOX 32 Chicago showed you how Henyard spent tens of thousands of dollars using employees and vehicles from the township and from Dolton, where she also serves as mayor, for a weeklong walk to Springfield to promote her self-named cancer charity, which has yet to file required reporting.
And you can't turn your head in Dolton or Thornton Township without seeing Henyard's picture or name.
It's on all the government-owned vehicles, buildings, and even on the rugs in the township where we found a Tiffany Henyard 2024 calendar featuring all the important dates to remember, including her birthday.
"I would be having a fit if she was my client telling her not to do this," said Delmarie Cobb, a veteran political consultant.
Cobb says there would be nothing wrong if Henyard was using her own political funds for those promotional materials, especially the billboards.
"I actually had a candidate years ago who was running for mayor of Dolton, and that's what we did. We bought billboards along the expressway because if you're coming and going home all day, one of the things I always say about billboards is they're working when you're sleeping. So that's why you want them up there," Cobb said.
In 2011, state lawmakers passed a law banning the practice of politicians putting their names on publicly funded signs, spurred by tollway signs featuring former Governor Rod Blagojevich. That law doesn't extend to mayors or other local elected officials.
But election attorney Odelson believes the billboards do violate state election laws.
"It's a crime. You're using public funds for something tax dollars shouldn't be used for," he said.
Furthermore, when the first billboard went up last summer, Thornton was misspelled as "Thorton" — and another sign had to be ordered, apparently at taxpayer expense.
So far, Henyard has not responded to any of our questions about the billboards.
On Tuesday, FOX 32 Chicago has another Henyard investigation. This time, we expose a new law that cuts the salary of the Thornton Township Supervisor by $200,000 – but only takes effect if someone else gets her job.