By Melanie Jongsma
The Lansing Journal
July 16, 2024
The stage was set before the July 16 meeting of the Thornton Township Board began, though The Lansing Journal didn’t learn the context until later. Unnamed members of the board had submitted five proposed ordinances to be included as items on the July 16 agenda. The ordinances were not included.
Instead, the July 16 agenda was typical and somewhat nondescript calling for approval of past meeting minutes, approval of bills from the township’s general fund, general assistance fund and the road and bridge fund. Old business called for approval of three contracts for lawn mowing. There was time for Supervisor Tiffany Henyard’s report followed by public comment.
The missing ordinances
A news release provided by Dr. Nakita Cloud of High Society Public Relations, who is “helping” the trustees, stated: “The majority of the Thornton Township Board of Trustees are being blocked from taking significant steps to introduce ordinances that will cap spending and minimize non-approved spending by Supervisor Henyard.”
The proposed ordinances call for:
- A way to regulate the use of township merchandise for personal promotion by elected and appointed officials for the township.
- Establishing travel guidelines for the township.
- Regulating event expenditures and budget approvals for the township.
- Repealing the current ordinance “regarding the salaries for certain elected and appointed officials for the township.”
- Setting a policy for the equitable rotation of event locations for the township.
The showdown
Without Henyard’s acquiescence to the guidelines spelled out in these ordinances, Trustees Chris Gonzalez and Carmen Carlisle refused to approve General Fund bills and General Assistance Fund bills during the 45-minute meeting.
Supervisor Henyard characterized their decision as illogical and unfair to vendors who have “done the work.” But Gonzalez and Carlisle feel it is unwise to continue to allow unapproved spending without specific limits in place.
With Trustee Jerry Jones being absent, only four members were present. Supervisor Henyard is a voting member of the board. Many of the votes resulted in a 2–2 tie, Gonzalez and Carlisle vs. Henyard and Trustee Darlene Gray-Everett. According to Township Clerk Loretta Wells, in the event of a tie a motion fails.
The showdown ended when Trustee Gonzalez asked for clarification about the protocol for adding items to a meeting agenda. Rather than providing an answer, Supervisor Henyard adjourned the meeting and left.
The video below shows the full meeting plus a post-meeting interview with Trustee Gonzalez about next steps for the proposed ordinances:
NOTE: The Homewood-Flossmoor Chronicle is part of the Local News Alliance (LNA), a group of independent news organizations from the South Suburbs, including Harvey, Lansing and Park Forest. One of the ways Alliance members help each other is by sharing coverage of news that is relevant beyond our individual communities. We are grateful to the Lansing Journal for allowing us to republish this article because of its relevance to Homewood.
