Cleveland City Council members regularly spend discretionary money giving out food to residents. That aid has taken the form of grocery store gift cards, hams and turkeys.
But two wards’ distributions were too loosey-goosey, Ohio Auditor Keith Faber’s office warned the city in late June. The auditor’s office outlined its findings in a letter alongside Cleveland’s regular annual audit for 2025, which came out last week.
State auditors found that 83 of Ward 1’s food cards went to people who live outside the city. And 879 compliance forms in Ward 1 were either missing or incomplete. In Ward 10, 5 cards went to non-residents and 687 compliance forms were unavailable or unfinished.
Those compliance forms are meant to verify that a recipient is a low-income resident. Nonprofits handle the distributions and receive reimbursement from the city.
“Lack of formal policies and procedures over the distribution of food gift cards could potentially lead to noncompliance with the contract, misuse of City funds” or the auditor demanding repayment, the letter from Chief Deputy Auditor Tiffany L. Ridenbaugh said.
Ridenbaugh advised City Hall to set up more stringent policies ensuring the food cards went only to qualifying residents of the city. Elected officials shouldn’t help with the distribution, and nonprofits’ reimbursements should be for the cards issued.
In a written statement, Council President Blaine Griffin interpreted the auditor’s letter to mean that the food card program as a whole was an allowable use of public money. He said council was fixing the problems the auditor found.
Griffin’s full statement reads:
We weren’t surprised to see this in the Auditor’s report, and honestly, I’m relieved. The auditors agreed with us that helping feed families through gift cards is a legitimate use of public funds, and we’re already working to solve every problem they identified.
Council funds the program, but the City’s community development department manages the contracts with the non-profits that distribute the gift cards. We’ve been working with them to strengthen the contracts and better enforce compliance with the program’s rules. We will also provide written guidance to members detailing what they can and cannot do if they choose to fund the distribution of cards.
Many people are struggling to feed their families, and Councilmembers want to do their small part to help. We also have to be fiscally responsible. The rules and controls we’re putting in place will allow us to do both.
Neither Joe Jones, who represents Ward 1, nor Anthony Hairston, who represented Ward 10 last year, replied to Signal Cleveland’s requests for comment.
City Council members dedicate their discretionary money to numerous neighborhood efforts, from park upgrades to police workout equipment. They receive dollars from the city’s regular budget, casino tax and other sources.
Council food cards weren’t the only things that drew the auditor’s interest. The memo told Cleveland officials to tighten cybersecurity practices, although many of the recommendations are redacted. Two years ago, City Hall was hit by a ransomware attack.
The auditor’s memo also took note of difficulties documenting rental assistance and Cleveland Public Power inventory.
