Brazen Mayor Tiffany Henyard shows why local elections matter

Tꦯhey say absolute power corrupts absolutely, but power doesn’t change someone — it only exaggerates what’s already inside the person who wieꦦlds it.

Unfortunately, many elected officials do this by standing on the necks of the peopl🐟e who helped put them into power.

In a matter of a few years, Dolton, Ill., Mayor Tiffany Henyard’s designer shoes have snappeꦰd the neck of prosperity of this small village outside Chicago.

The 40-year-old self-proclaimed “super mayor” is ignoring Freedom of Information Act requests to see the 20,000-resident village’s budget even as she plasters her face on billboards around town — a somewhat om🎉inous Happy Valentiꦰne’s Day message read, “I love you, and there’s nothing you can do about it!”

Meanwhile, she’s turned Thornton Township’s bank account — she’s also the 190,000-resident township’s supervisor — into her personal piggy bank by taking lavish first🏅-claඣss trips to cities around the country, including New York and Las Vegas, spending upwards ✃of $67,000 of township funds.

One Dolton trustee, Brittney Norwood, says the embattled mayor refuses to open the ꦚbooks for the board and the public to scrutinize her spending.

“A few months๊ ago, we were $7 million in debt,” Norwood complains.

Before Hꦆenyard, a former burger-joint owner, took office in Apri🌳l 2021, Dolton had a budget surplus.

In 2022, the village board put two questions on the ballot. The first asked voters if Dolton should have a recall mechanism; th🍨e second asked, if the first succeeded, if Henyard should be recalled.

They passed: 56% of voters wanted her removed as mayorꦕ.

But Cook County courts ruled the referenda invalid, keeping the village tyranꦺt in power.

Now Dolton’s finances are so out of control, a leasing bank is threatening to repossess village vehicles, in🐼cluding police cars, due to nonpayment.

But Henyard has no shame.

She basically bragged about her exorbitant spending and disregard for the rule of law with a costume tribute to Nino Brown, the a♏nti-hero of the 1991 movie “New Jack City.”

She strutted into a village board meeting dressed lꦯike the drug-lor⛎d character and had a DJ play Rhianna’s song “Bitch Better Have My Money.”

Nino Brown is a community terrorist who drugs hi𒁃s people for profit, kills whoever threatens his growing empire, even those from within his circle, and laughs in the face of the law because his power elevated him above punishment: This is Henyard𒈔’s idol.

Beh𝓀ind every tyrant lies his biggest weakne🐓ss: his insecurity.

Henyard plasters her face on billboards throughout the village, paid for by taxpayers, just like dictatꦅors have statues of themselves scattered throughout the country.

They all need constant external recognition of their “greatnes🐈s” because they cannot generate it from within.

The only way for these strongmen to get the people’s adoration is through either forced compliance or faux charity: Nino Brown handed out turkey🌜s during Thanksgiving, and Tiffany Henyard gave out free gas for votes during her campaign.

So how do we prev✅ent being trampled over by an audacious ruler who masquerades as a public servant?

We must show up for local elections.

Too often our municipal elections are decided by low voter turnout, especially in the off years of a president🍌ial election.

We’ve forgotten🌼 how detrimental one local election can be in such a short peri💦od.

Henyard won the mayoral♈ Democratic primary by four points over incumbent Mayor Riley Rogers and fiv♐e points over candidate Andrew Holmes, resulting in fewer than 150 votes separating the top three candidates.

The “super mayor” is far from the only municipal politician motivated by personal enrichment who abuses her might — she’s just incredibly brazen about🐓 it.

She’s always been morally c﷽orrupt; she only needed to obtain the power to exploit.

The problem is our news has become so nationalize𒊎d.

We’ve ignored how many immoral actors in government𓃲 get a pass because we’ve been obsessively focused on “what’s happening in DC” instead of “what’s happening near me.”

Local elections matter♐ because if you don’t sho🐽w up, tyrants can make your community hell much faster than the president can.

Adam B. Coleman is the author of “Black Victim to Black Victor” and founder of Wrong Speak Publishing. Follow him on Substack: adambcoleman.substack.com.