A small crowd gathered at the Thornton Township office in South Holland on the evening of Nov. 19 for a board meeting that was destined not to happen.

The day before the meeting, trustees Christopher Gonzalez and Carmen Carlisle released a statement indicating they were effectively boycotting the meeting because of what they called an improperly vetted agenda and an attempt by Supervisor Tiffany Henyard to push through her own initiatives without full transparency, especially regarding the township’s finances.

Henyard spoke for about 20 minutes, referencing what she called “fake news” and “Judases” in the audience, while reminding those in attendance about a township-sponsored Thanksgiving food giveaway on Saturday and an upcoming holiday toy giveaway.