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Missing in Portage County

A lack of oversight invited loose spending of federal job-training money

Published on Sunday, Jul 05, 2009

With billions of dollars in federal funds flowing through state and local agencies, an iron rule is to keep close track of where the money goes, to be sure it reaches the right people for the intended purposes. In that light, a report issued last week by the state auditor's office, concerning the use of Workforce Investment Act funds by Portage County and the Geauga Ashtabula Portage Partnership, Inc., serves as a sharp call to order for those who administer and oversee the federal program.

Last fall, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, prompted by allegations of misuse of the federal job-training money, conducted an investigation into the disbursement of WIA funds in Portage County. It found, among other problems, that almost $29,000 had been spent on college expenses for ineligible children of Portage officials, among them the daughter of Christopher Smeiles, a Portage county commissioner who had voted to raise the grant amount to WIA recipients and to approve as a fund receipt the college his daughter attended.

The state auditor's investigation in turn has identified more than $900,000 in questionable spending, uses of the federal money that did not follow the parameters for WIA grants. The audit of Portage County raised concerns about $750,000 in expenses, including almost $429,000 in grants to people without proper documentation to establish their eligibility. The report highlighted $14,000 in advertising costs at Kent State University. In return, the county received season tickets to football and basketball games, a violation of federal guidelines.

For GAPP, the nonprofit agency that administers the federal program in the three counties, the audit noted more than $150,000 in wayward spending, citing grants to 18 ineligible people and failure to require documentation of all income on applications.

It is mildly comforting that nothing in the audits was perceived as criminal. The audit said Smeiles received a legal opinion from the Portage County prosecutor that his votes would not violate state ethics law. His daughter has repaid the grant. It is appropriate, all the same, that the Ohio Ethics Commission review the case. The apparent disregard of grant guidelines and proper documentation demonstrate the potential for abuse. It is up to the Department of Job and Family Services to keep strict watch to ensure probity in federal programs under its watch.

With billions of dollars in federal funds flowing through state and local agencies, an iron rule is to keep close track of where the money goes, to be sure it reaches the right people for the intended purposes. In that light, a report issued last week by the state auditor's office, concerning the use of Workforce Investment Act funds by Portage County and the Geauga Ashtabula Portage Partnership, Inc., serves as a sharp call to order for those who administer and oversee the federal program.

Get the full article here.


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