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The Marion City Council chambers on the evening of July 21st, 2025, was dominated with Legislation, Codes, and Regulations Committee convened. Chaired by Mike Neff, the meeting quickly dove into the contentious Ordinance 2025-060, aiming to place the question of a city charter commission on the November ballot. Law Director Mark Russell, lauded by Chairman Neff for his tireless efforts, presented a “clean version” of the ordinance, incorporating amendments that addressed previous public and council concerns, including the removal of “slates” for commission candidates and a reduction in required petition signatures to five.
The discussion around the charter ordinance was lively, particularly concerning the August 11th petition filing deadline and the Board of Elections’ capacity to certify petitions within a tight timeframe. Council members, including Thaddaeus Smith, expressed a strong desire to let the people of Marion decide on the charter’s necessity. Despite some lingering concerns about the short turnaround and potential overtime costs for the Board of Elections, Mike Neff, anticipating a swift resolution, boldly stated his full expectation that council would suspend rules for a vote on July 28th. This declaration drew a sharp retort from resident Naomi Craig, who questioned the procedural regularity and accused Mike Neff of predetermining council’s actions, leading to a brief but pointed exchange about “sunshine laws” and council discussions. Ultimately, a motion to amend the ordinance to reflect the revised language and a subsequent motion to send it to council for consideration passed with a 2-1 vote, with Jason Schaber casting the dissenting vote, citing a lack of explicit recommendation for approval.
Financial Matters and Public Scrutiny
The Finance Committee meeting, chaired by Twila Laing, followed, bringing forth discussions on audits, penalties, and new appropriations. City Auditor Miranda Meginness provided updates on the 2021 and 2022 audits, noting ongoing document submissions and contact updates for e-services. A rundown of the financial standing, IRS matters, and other auditor business were also discussed, clarification of spreadsheet updates regarding penalties and appeals were discussed. The “Strongest Towns Party” also came under scrutiny, with Naomi Craig questioning the reported $90,000 fundraising goal and expressing concerns about transparency regarding donor funds and the time taken for public records requests. Tacy Courtright clarified that the city’s direct contribution was $10,000, with external contributions covering the rest, reassuring that the city would not spend any more than its allocated amount.
However, an interesting turn to the evening came when Jason Foreman, representing Marion Watch and Newsforce247.com Investigates, stepped to the podium. In a unanimously decided speech, with all team members in agreement that they had enough credible sources to move forward, including founding member and former Marion County Sheriff Detective Dennis Potts, Foreman delivered a powerful address on grave concerns regarding the city’s Information Technology department.
Foreman began by stating that for months, their suspicions had been growing, “fueled by unsettling inconsistencies in our (the city’s) information technology area, particularly concerning financial data. We now believe our suspicions are confirmed”. He vividly recalled when Robert Lannon III (the Auditor whom Cathy Chaffin became Service Director after he was elected) “reached out to me as the situation unfolded regarding the mistaken account numbers and other things that were going on. Subsequently when he was issued a finding for recovery by the auditor of state”, although Foreman was unable to focus on it at the time due to severe family health issues. This period of issues during Robert Lannon III’s tenure and his subsequent finding for recovery are also publicly documented. Upon refocusing in December, Foreman stated, “it took my team and I no time to realize that something was fundamentally wrong”. This sentiment, he affirmed, had been “echoed by the entirety of the current city council at one part or another,” describing it as a “pervasive feeling that… ‘something isn’t right about the auditor’s office issues, we just can’t put a finger on’ in various forms”.
Leveraging his “over 20 years of experience in complex IT systems, including in-depth global deployments to gain PCI compliance and having consulted with multiple former colleagues whose expertise far exceeds even my own aptitude,” Foreman unequivocally stated, “I can confirm that what we’ve uncovered is not just inappropriate, but highly suspicious”. He highlighted the initial spark for their suspicion: “the apparent mistaken entry and mix-up of federal and state account numbers,” noting that “some account numbers have varying formats and lengths. So, this caught my attention, threw up a big red flag”.
Foreman then detailed the core of their concern: “unimpeded administrative access.” Through extensive conversations with “both current and former city leadership,” they were advised that “the former deputy auditor Cathy Chaffin had unimpeded administrative and/or root access depending on the operating system (terminology used) to these and potentially other critical financial and other systems altogether”. He stressed that “this level of access without proper oversight or segregation of duties is a highly significant vulnerability”. Marion Watch, he asserted, “now firmly believe that this unauthorized access was not only known to certain individuals within the former administration, but regrettably may also have been known to some in our current administration”. He clarified, however, that “it was apparent… some of these officials didn’t fully grasp the complexity and ramifications of such administrative access until it was thoroughly explained”. He informed the council that “several city government officials have advised that Mayor Collins has taken steps to implement safeguards, re-implement the safeguards in response to these concerns,” acknowledging these actions, while necessary, have “in some instances… caused other operational problems” as the city navigates “tightening security protocols after years of lapse practice”.
Addressing the potential legal ramifications, Foreman explained “why the situation could be highly illegal both at the federal and state level.” Federally, he cited the “Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,” a serious law with penalties ranging from “substantial fines to significant imprisonment, especially if the access was used to defraud or cause damage”. At the state level, he pointed to Ohio Revised Code (ORC) actions like “unauthorized use of computers, cable or telecommunications property, ORC 2913.04,” which are felonies with escalating penalties. Furthermore, if access was used to “alter, destroy, or falsify records within the system,” it could constitute “tampering with records, ORC 2921.12, another felony”. He added, “Most people we have spoken to regarding this believe this may have been done maliciously”. This belief, he said, was “amplified by the widespread knowledge that this former deputy auditor would allegedly require employees’ usernames and passwords”. He condemned this practice as “highly unethical if not outright illegal,” explaining that it “bypass[es] critical security controls and audit trails, essentially giving an individual unchecked access to manipulate or view data under another employee’s identity”. This, he concluded, “compromises accountability, opens the door to fraud, and can violate various privacy and computer access laws”.
Crucially, Foreman clarified that Marion Watch firmly believes the Auditor of State and Mayor Bill Collins were not aware of this unauthorized administrative access, underscoring their commitment to rectifying city issues. He concluded his impactful speech by urging the committee, the mayor, “law enforcement perhaps,” to “act decisively,” demanding “a thorough investigation into the full scope of this unauthorized access, identify all individuals involved and implement robust safeguards to prevent such breaches from ever occurring again. Our city’s financial stability and the trust of our citizens depends on our unwavering commitment to accountability and transparency”.
In response to questions from council members, Foreman stated that their information came from numerous current and former government officials, emphasizing that the information had been corroborated across the board. Council Member Aaron Rollins then raised a separate, though related, point of concern regarding the previous administration: the physical access of the former service director, who was also Cathy Chaffin. Rollins highlighted that as Service Director (a position to which she was appointed by Mayor Schertzer after Robert Lannon III won the Auditor race), Cathy Chaffin allegedly had keys to the Auditor’s office and access to it after hours, on weekends, or during emergencies, without any auditor staff present. Rollins stressed his personal emphasis on established processes, questioning whether a proper procedure for outside department entry into the auditor’s office after hours had ever been created. City officials responded by clarifying the current IT access protocols, stating that Jacob Boldin, the City’s IT Specialist, manages permissions and that, to his knowledge, only those working in the Auditor’s office currently have permissions for its systems. The committee also touched upon the status of police and fire pension fund claims and the IRS claim, with Law Director Mark Russell indicating he was awaiting an update on the former.
Also of particular interest Naomi Craig asked the law director if there were actions being taken to remove the current City Auditor. He explained that this was not true, and detailed various matters regarding how this rumor may have started.
Municipal Services and Unresolved Issues
The Municipal Services meeting, chaired by Thaddaeus Smith, addressed a clerical error in an ordinance regarding an employee’s paygrade, which was promptly corrected to 31E and passed with an emergency clause.
Towards the end of the evening, resident concerns once again took center stage. Aaron Rollins inquired about additional trash cans in parks, receiving confirmation that more bins were placed in Garfield Park and that future budget planning included cheaper options. Naomi Craig followed up, specifically requesting trash cans for Roosevelt and Bald parks, which currently have none. Finally, a resident, reiterated their ongoing concerns about dead and leaning trees on their property on East Church Street, which they believe were damaged by recent sidewalk work. Despite previous inspections, the issue remains unresolved, with Safety Director Kevin Smith on vacation. Mr. Casters voiced his fear of the trees falling and causing injury, particularly on a busy street.
The evening’s meetings provided a snapshot of Marion City Council’s busy agenda, grappling with significant legislative decisions, financial oversight, and persistent community concerns. The powerful address from Marion Watch served as a stark reminder of the importance of transparency and accountability in local government, especially concerning the integrity of critical IT systems and public funds. This underscores a fundamental principle of IT security: the servers for the Auditor’s office, or any critical government function, should be housed in secure server rooms accessible only to dedicated IT staff. Furthermore, end-users, regardless of their role, should never have physical or administrative-level access to these core systems, as such practices bypass crucial security controls and open the door to grave vulnerabilities. These are commonly and globally accepted control measures in the information technology field, as are the other subjects highlighted by Marion Watch.