Gasps, groans dominate Lori Lightfoot’s presentation on Dolton finances

DOLTON, Ill. — Audible gasps, groans, and even laughter in disbelief were consistent themes of a Dolton Board of Trustees meeting Thursday, which featured a highly-anticipated presentation from former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on what turned out to be a maze of mind-boggling expenditures from Dolton village officials over the last three years.

“We are enraged, we are enraged and we are so ready for all this to be over with so that we can carry on,” said Jennifer Roberts, a Thornton Township resident.

It was a full house that featured some of the same people who have attended other monthly meetings that put Dolton’s dysfunction on full display, and Thursday, those concerned residents saw the financial numbers behind the fighting.

One of the biggest reactions tonight came when Lightfoot presented an example of police overtime. In a PowerPoint presentation, Lightfoot showed two officers made more in overtime than their base salaries, totaling $192,000 for one officer, and $227,000 for another in the last fiscal year.

The acting police chief Lewis Lacey, who we learned tonight has been terminated, isn’t even eligible for overtime, and yet, he’s gotten more than $200,000 in overtime over the last four fiscal years.

And then, of course, there’s the credit card spending.

“$40,000 at Amazon,” said Dolton Trustee Kiana Belcher. “What a slap in the face to everybody that resides in the 60419 zip code.”

Meanwhile, the frivolous spending by the likes of Tiffany Henyard and her entourage have set real world consequences into motion.

At the board of trustees meeting Thursday night, Dolton trustees announced a hiring freeze, and that there will likely be more layoffs down the road.

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