In SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. (WLS), the Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard was not present during the filling of the vacant trustee position at the meeting held on Tuesday night.
It is a process she has been against. Now, some trustees say, the next move is to get a budget approved and insurance paid.
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The position, left unfilled since October, was quickly decided upon as electors, who crowded the South Holland fieldhouse, made a unanimous selection.
Stephanie Wiedeman received the majority vote to fill a vacant Thornton Township trustee position, effective immediately.
During the special meeting on Tuesday night, Wiedeman emerged as the chosen candidate after competing against two other nominees. Wiedeman had previously worked under Thornton Township’s former administration since 2003 but was dismissed by Henyard when she assumed office three years ago.
“You don’t pour your entire adult life into 17 communities for somebody else to come in, and watch it fall apart,” Wiedeman said.
“She was already on the inside, and she’s more familiar with it. I don’t know why she fired her in the first place,” said Thornton Township elector Randy Smith.
Getting to this point has been contentious, for months, with Trustees Chris Gonzalez and Carmen Carlisle skipping out on meetings, fearing Henyard would appoint one of her allies to fill the vacancy.
That resulted in a local government shutdown. Bus services have been paused, township buildings have been locked down and insurance policies have been left unpaid.
“We might have to wait until the next regular board meeting, but we’re hoping to get all of that stuff going as soon as we could,” Gonzalez said.
Wiedeman will fill the trustee position until May after the April 1 election. It is an election she says she does not plan to run in. ABC7 reached out to Henyard for a comment, but did not immediately hear back.
READ MORE | Tiffany Henyard says Thornton Twp. shutdown protocols in place: ‘I am your Rosa Parks’ | EXCLUSIVE
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