{"id":2321852,"date":"2024-08-09T10:16:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T14:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lori-lightfoot-unveils-bleak-audit-of-town-finances-of-americas-worst-mayor-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-08-09T10:21:33","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T14:21:33","slug":"lori-lightfoot-unveils-bleak-audit-of-town-finances-of-americas-worst-mayor-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lori-lightfoot-unveils-bleak-audit-of-town-finances-of-americas-worst-mayor-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Lori Lightfoot unveils bleak audit of town finances of \u2018America\u2019s Worst Mayor\u2019 &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flori-lightfoot-unveils-bleak-audit-of-town-finances-of-americas-worst-mayor-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2321852&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The situation surrounding\u200d Dolton&#8217;s \u200dMayor Tiffany Henyard has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bible-doubters-shaken-to-the-core-after-stunning-find-in-the-israeli-desert\/\" title=\"Skeptics Stunned by Remarkable Discovery in Israeli Desert\">recently gained attention due<\/a>\u2064 to financial investigations led by former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Lightfoot was hired to scrutinize the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lincoln-project-founder-used-donor-cash-to-shore-up-shoddy-finances\/\" title=\"Lincoln Project Founder Used Donor Cash to Shore Up Shoddy Finances\">financial practices<\/a> of Henyard, who has \u2063faced controversy \u2064regarding her spending, \u2064including lavish travel and significant purchases\u200b on the town&#8217;s behalf.<\/p>\n<p>Lightfoot&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sullivan-u-s-has-deep-concerns-over-who-findings-of-covid-19-origins-in-china-without-sufficient-data\/\" title=\"Sullivan: U.S. has \u2018deep concerns\u2019 over WHO findings of COVID-19 origins in China without sufficient data\">initial findings<\/a> reveal alarming \u2063financial \u200cissues within Dolton. The town has not undergone\u200c an audit since 2021, and as of \u200cMay 2024, Dolton&#8217;s general fund has accumulated a debt of $3.65 million, \u2064a \u2063stark decline from a surplus of over $5.6 million in April 2022, shortly before\u200d Henyard took office. The investigation uncovered that 589 checks \u200btotaling more than $6 million had\u2062 been approved but remained unpaid to vendors. Moreover, \u200dit detailed over $40,000 in\u2064 purchases made on\u200b Amazon,\u200d among other expenditures with \u2063town credit cards,\u2064 including domestic trips and significant purchases at local\u200b retailers.<\/p>\n<p>Residents and village trustees have expressed concern about the dire financial outlook, with sentiments reflecting \u2064a growing awareness of \u2064the village\u2019s monetary troubles. The\u2063 investigation emphasizes the \u200cmisuse of taxpayer funds and raises questions about the management of Dolton&#8217;s finances under Henyard&#8217;s leadership, leading to increasing scrutiny on her administration.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Lori Lightfoot unveils bleak audit of town finances of &lsquo;America&rsquo;s Worst Mayor&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1725552\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Former Chicago Mayor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/lori-lightfoot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Lori Lightfoot<\/a> released her initial findings into her investigation of Dolton, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/illinois\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Illinois<\/a>, Mayor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tiffany-henyard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Tiffany Henyard<\/a>&rsquo;s spending, which has been at the center of controversy surrounding the town.<\/p>\n<p>Lightfoot, who is a former federal prosecutor, found that the town had not had an audit since 2021. Lightfoot was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/2958997\/former-chicago-mayor-lori-lightfoot-hired-investigate-america-worst-mayor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>hired for $400 per hour<\/a> earlier this year to investigate the suburban community&rsquo;s mayor over her lavish spending and first-class travel on the town&rsquo;s dime.<\/p>\n<p>Village trustees had long been warning that Dolton was in dire financial trouble, but Lightfoot&rsquo;s findings were more troubling than some thought, according to<a href=\"https:\/\/abc7chicago.com\/post\/former-chicago-mayor-lori-lightfoot-release-findings-investigation-dolton-mayor-tiffany-henyard\/15158424\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title> ABC 7 Chicago<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I knew we were broke, and the way she broke it down, this is real,&rdquo; resident Valerie Stubbs told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcchicago.com\/news\/local\/lori-lightfoot-presents-initial-findings-in-investigation-into-doltons-finances\/3517453\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>NBC Chicago<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lightfoot said Dolton&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pennsylvania-school-district-taxes-expected-to-rise-almost-5-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Pennsylvania school district taxes expected to rise almost 5% - Washington Examiner\">general fund balance<\/a> is $3.65 million in debt and has been depleted from a surplus fund of more than $5.6 million in April 2022, which was around the time Henyard took office.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation revealed that as of June 18, 589 checks worth more than $6 million had been approved but had not been sent to vendors. More than $40,000 worth of Amazon purchases are also under review.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As of May 30 of this year, the village&rsquo;s general fund was in a net deficit position,&rdquo; Lightfoot said, adding that &ldquo;since March of 2023, the village has been unable to pay all its monthly expenditures.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The investigation also revealed thousands of dollars spent on the village&rsquo;s credit cards. The investigation revealed nine domestic trips, $43,000 spent on Amazon in one day, $8,000 of purchases at Wayfair, and $2,000 spent at Best Buy.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;These are somebody using the credit card and charging these amounts using your tax dollars,&rdquo; Lightfoot said. The credit cards that Henyard and other bad actors had access to were recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3113682\/illinois-village-freezes-credit-cards-after-americas-worst-mayor-tiffany-henyards-spending-frenzy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>frozen<\/a> by the village and now require the town board to approve purchases.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When Lightfoot took on the investigative role, village trustees wanted her to look into a lavish trip Henyard and other town workers took to Las Vegas. In 2023, Henyard was accompanied by two village trustees and some village employees on a trip to Sin City. While on the trip, one village employee said she was assaulted by another employee but was then retaliated against and fired by Henyard for speaking up about it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Her time as mayor has been riddled with controversy. In addition to retaliating against a victim of sexual assault, Henyard has been accused of embezzling taxpayer funds and has been called the &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GgkPKQhTZZo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/de-blasio-makes-a-move-that-could-signal-run-for-governor\/\" title=\"De Blasio Makes A Move That Could Signal Run For Governor\">worst mayor<\/a> in America.<\/a>&rdquo; Henyard, a Democrat, describes herself as a &ldquo;Super Mayor.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1725552\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1725552\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lori Lightfoot, the former mayor of Chicago, has published her preliminary findings regarding the financial practices of Dolton, Illinois Mayor Tiffany Henyard, whose spending has sparked significant controversy. Lightfoot discovered that Dolton had not undergone an audit since 2021. Earlier this year, she was hired at a rate of $400 per hour to investigate Henyard&#8217;s extravagant expenditures and first-class travel funded by the town. Village trustees had previously warned about Dolton&#8217;s severe financial issues, but Lightfoot&#8217;s revelations were even more alarming than anticipated, as reported by ABC 7 Chicago. Resident Valerie Stubbs expressed her concern to NBC Chicago: \u201cI knew we were broke; the way she detailed it makes it real.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Lightfoot indicated that Dolton\u2019s general fund is currently $3.65 million in debt and has diminished from a surplus exceeding $5.6 million in April 2022 when Henyard assumed office. The investigation uncovered that as of June 18, there were 589 checks totaling over $6 million approved but not sent to vendors. Additionally, more than $40,000 worth of Amazon purchases are under scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>Lightfoot noted that as of May 30 this year, the village\u2019s general fund was in a net deficit and stated that since March 2023, Dolton has struggled to meet its monthly expenses. The investigation also highlighted thousands spent on village credit cards for various purchases including nine domestic trips and significant amounts at retailers like Amazon ($43,000 in one day), Wayfair ($8,000), and Best Buy ($2,000). \u201cThese are instances where someone used their credit card charging these amounts with your tax dollars,\u201d Lightfoot remarked.<\/p>\n<p>The village recently froze access to credit cards held by Henyard and others involved in questionable spending practices; now all purchases must be approved by the town board.<\/p>\n<p>When Lightfoot began her investigation at the request of village trustees looking into a lavish trip taken by Henyard and other officials to Las Vegas earlier this year\u2014where two trustees accompanied them\u2014one employee reported being assaulted during the trip but faced retaliation from Henyard after speaking out about it.<\/p>\n<p>Henyard\u2019s tenure as mayor has been marred by controversy; she faces accusations of embezzling taxpayer funds and is often labeled &#8220;America&#8217;s Worst Mayor.&#8221; Despite this criticism, she refers to herself as a &#8220;Super Mayor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2910,"featured_media":2321853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ap-lori-lightfoot-080924.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[36935,4261,11416,37659],"class_list":["post-2321852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-americas-worst-mayor","tag-audit","tag-finances","tag-lori-lightfoot"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/ap-lori-lightfoot-080924.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2910"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2321852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2321853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2321852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2321852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2321852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}