Ford Heights appoints acting mayor after former mayor resigns over theft, misconduct convictions

FORD HEIGHTS, Ill. (WLS) -- A south suburban village held a board meeting Saturday to appoint a new mayor after a judge found the now-former mayor guilty of stealing money for personal reason earlier this week.

The video in the player above is from a previous report.

Ford Heights Mayor Charles Griffin was found guilty of felony theft and official misconduct charges Monday, and he resigned from his mayoral position on Wednesday.

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Tensions between some residents and city officials ran high as current Trustee Freddie Wilson was appointed acting mayor of the struggling southern suburb.

"What you all doing up there, I have no clue, but its no good," south suburban resident Jackie Johnson said.

Wilson's elevation comes just days after Griffin resigned following his conviction for embezzling tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money for personal gain. Griffin was first charged in 2018.

"People got questions," south suburban resident Willie Robinson said. "They want to know. They just shut everybody down, so I'm slightly disappointed."

About a few dozen residents showed up for the special village board meeting Saturday afternoon. The appointment passed by a vote of four to one, with Wilson abstaining.

Trustee Jimmy Viverette voted yes, despite being told by authorities he must step down by the end of the month because of a prior criminal conviction.

"I have a right to vote," Viverette said.

The board's most-senior Trustee Tina McMichaels, who is considering a run for mayor in the spring, claims the other trustees got together in private and decided to install Wilson without her input.

They could have asked me for that respect," McMichaels said. "I could have said yea or nay."

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While there is support for the new mayor, others question his ties to a corrupt Mayor Griffin, who served from 2009 to 2017 and again beginning in 2021.

"That's got nothing to do with me," Wilson said. "Whatever the mayor might have made mistakes doing, that was on the mayor. Don't hold me accountable for what the mayor did."

Wilson added his focus is on completing ongoing improvement projects in the village, which has a declining population and continues to struggle financially and with crime.

"We've got to work together as a unit as opposed to fighting each other," a resident who attended the meeting said.

Some residents remain skeptical but hopeful.

The acting mayor and the board get back to village business at a meeting on Wednesday. It's still anyone's guess who the residents of Ford Heights will elect mayor next year.

Former Mayor Griffin is due back in court on October 24.