Dolton has a leadership mess. Its residents deserve better.

The south suburb of Dolton has a population of only 20,000 — less than half the size of a Chicago ward.

But what the village lacks in size, it more than makes up for, as of late, shenanigans involving its municipal leaders. In fact, calling them “shenanigans” is an understatement, given Friday’s FBI raid of village offices, reportedly looking for records regarding an ongoing corruption investigation involving Mayor Tiffany Henyard, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Last week, Dolton Village Administrator Keith Freeman, 45, was indicted by federal prosecutors for allegedly knowingly underreporting and hiding his assets and income in a personal bankruptcy case he filed last January.

Then there’s the civil lawsuit filed a week earlier against Dolton Trustee Andrew Holmes, alleging that he sexually assaulted a former village employee during a visit to Las Vegas last May for a conference. The lawsuit, filed by the victim and a Dolton police officer, also accuses Henyard of trying to cover up the incident and of retaliating against the employee when she tried to come forward.

Meanwhile, Henyard, you will remember, already is under investigation by the village’s board of trustees for allegedly playing fast and loose with the town’s funds, including putting the expensive 2023 trip to Las Vegas on the town’s credit card while providing little information to trustees or residents about what government business was conducted there. Village trustees have hired former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to conduct the Henyard probe.

All of these are only allegations against Freeman, Holmes and Henyard, it must be said. But taken together, they provide plenty of smoke, pointing to a possible full-scale fire that needs to be extinguished in Dolton village government — followed by a thorough housecleaning.

Financial mismanagement, and worse?

Freeman, a Henyard ally who is also municipality manager for Thornton Township, was indicted on one count of federal bankruptcy fraud. According to prosecutors, Freeman filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition and reported his 2022 and 2023 income as $45,186 and $99,647 respectively, while his actual income for those years was $140,000 and $195,000.

Among other allegations, prosecutors said Freeman created a bank account to help hide the income.

The feds also said Freeman failed to report that the village of Robbins, a nearby suburb, had filed an action against him to recover $90,396 he was paid “in excess of his authorized salary” while Robbins was village administrator from 2017 to 2021.

The indictment is nothing to sneeze at. If convicted, Freeman, who lives in Orland Park, could be sentenced to up to five years in the federal Big House.

“If a person can lie on their own financials, what do you think they’re doing for the village?” Dolton trustee Tammy Brown told WGN News.

Which might not be an unfair question, given the accusations against Freeman’s political running buddy, Henyard, a vocal and flamboyant officeholder — she branded herself “Super Mayor” but has been dubbed, in some quarters, “America’s Worst Mayor” — whose antics are chronicled on social media and national news stories. Henyard is also Thornton Township supervisor.

In addition to investigating Henyard’s May 2023 Las Vegas trip, Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor, is set to look into how the mayor spent federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, examine allegations that Henyard paid vendors without board approval; and find out why the mayor shelled out $900,000 in two years to a Dolton village attorney.

It’s more than alarming that Dolton’s two highest-ranking governmental leaders are under investigation for alleged financial misdeeds. As for the allegations against Holmes, including that he admitted to the Dolton police officer he had unprotected sex with the employee on the trip and detailed his “exploits” in a phone call, they are equally alarming — though Holmes is only facing a civil lawsuit so far, not criminal charges. Las Vegas police confirmed to Sun-Times reporters, however, there’s an ongoing investigation into Holmes and the alleged incident.

The lawsuit’s claim Henyard tried to cover up the assault and retaliate against the alleged victim only adds more fuel to the fire.

Dolton trustees have also accused Henyard of an array of other misdeeds, ranging from preventing the village board from meeting to refusing to show the board documentation that indicates what bills the town paid.

And then there’s this: In 2022, Henyard’s administration hired a code enforcement officer who’d spent 24 years in prison for participating in the kidnapping and sexual assault of two girls, ages 13 and 14. The man was hired, without board approval, for the job that allows him to enter Dolton homes and businesses.

Dolton is one of the poorest suburbs in Cook County, with a $5 million budget deficit. A bank in February threatened to repossess a dozen village police cars and public works vehicles due to non-payment. The per capita income in 2022 was a mere $27,905.

We’d call this a clown show, except that it all seems potentially far worse.

The curtain can’t fall soon enough on this mess. Dolton’s residents deserve much better — responsible and accountable government leadership.

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