SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. (June 19, 2024) – It was 62 minutes after the June 18 meeting of the Thornton Township Board was scheduled to start that senior adviser Keith Freeman informed the gathered crowd that the meeting was canceled.
“They’re canceling the meeting,” he said after talking with township clerk Loretta Wells and township trustees Chris Gonzalez and Carmen Carlisle.
When asked by a resident why the meeting was canceled, Freeman said, “I do not have the answer to that.”
The moment Freeman announced the cancelation is below:
An agenda found on Thornton Township’s website indicates the meeting has been rescheduled to Thursday, June 20 at 8 p.m.
Cancelations amid a turning tide
Tuesday marked the second time Thornton Township has canceled a public meeting in the last month, as it canceled the May 28 public hearings on the township’s budgets. The meetings ultimately took place on May 31 and lasted more than three hours.
At those meetings, trustees Carmen Carlisle and Jerry Jones joined trustee Chris Gonzales in voting against supervisor Tiffany Henyard by delaying the approval of the township’s annual budget. The move seemed to signal a departure from Carlisle’s and Jones’ habits of rubber stamp approvals that have marked their trustee tenures under Henyard’s administration.
On May 31, Jones said, “I want to express to the residents … My apologies for anything that has been going on in this township that shouldn’t.”
“This board needs to understand our functions, and the Supervisor and the staff work for us,” he continued.
Carlisle apology, commitment to “rebuild”
Though Jones did not appear in the board room during the hour leading up to the June 18 meeting’s cancelation, Carlisle was present at times.
At 6:56, Carlisle asked if she could make a statement to the assembled residents. In her prepared remarks, she apologized for comments she made at a recent Dolton board meeting, when she called someone “old and ignorant.” She also said she called someone a “clown.”
“I sincerely apologize for my behavior. It’s not a reflection of who I am, and I do not want that moment to define me,” she said.
“I will no longer sit on the board with a quiet voice. I will use my influence to do what’s right for the people of Thornton Township. And I understand that the public has lost trust and confidence in us as board members, but I sit here today and say that I will do what’s necessary to rebuild that trust and confidence.”
Just before Carlisle issued her apology, she and Clerk Wells acknowledged that Henyard was present in the building. The full video of that moment and Carlisle’s apology is included below:
So, what about the budget?
According to Illinois Municipal Budget Law, a public body like Thornton Township “shall, within or before the first quarter of each fiscal year, adopt a combined annual budget and appropriation ordinance.”
Thornton Township’s fiscal year started on March 1, making Friday, May 31 the last day that a budget could legally be approved.
Trustee Chris Gonzalez said the township will continue to operate under last year’s budget until a new one is approved. And before that approval happens, he said a public forum would be ideal.
“The idea would be we’re going to try to do at least one, if not two, public forums. And then hopefully we either [approve the budget] at the next meeting, or if they wanted to have a special meeting, that just depends on how soon everything goes. I’ve been telling people, ‘One step at a time,'” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said he’d spoken to trustees Jones and Carlisle, but not Darlene Gray-Everett.
“Things have turned,” he said. “If everybody still stands strong … we can get some things done.”
Thornton Township board meetings are held at 333 E 162nd Street in South Holland, Illinois.
Related
- Surprise twist: Thornton Township trustees vote against Tiffany Henyard (June 3, 2024)
- Tiffany Henyard cancels Thornton Township budget hearings after hour-long wait (May 29, 2024)
- Video: The Tiffany Henyard timeline — how we got where we are (May 17, 2024)
