MARION—A second resolution was passed to ask for a state investigation into the practices of the Marion City Auditor at last night’s city council meeting.

Auditor Robert E. Landon III insists his office has done nothing wrong after the city was caught in a recent scam; he ordered cash funds to be paid to the wrong agency and made material misstatements of facts.

The resolution has two parts. Part one addresses Landon’s authorization of a cash payment of over a million dollars to the wrong agency. The payment was made without notifying the council from a cash fund that he allegedly had no authorization to use. In addition, the recent scam that was perpetrated on a city employee raises questions about why (if completed) internal audits did not prevent both situations from being discovered before acted on by the Auditor’s office.

Part two of the resolution alleges that Landon knowingly made false representations when he said the city books were off by 100 million dollars when he took office.

According to sources, the entire general fund runs between 17-19 million dollars making Landon’s statement egregious.

Even though Landon has insinuated he inherited the difficult situations after defeating long-time auditor Kelly Carr, her office was recently awarded the prestigious Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government’s Financial Association. This award was received as a result of financial reports for the fiscal year of 2019 submitted under Carr’s leadership.

Ayers Ratliff, President Pro Tem of Marion City Council, formed and selected the committee: “It was my goal and hope in forming this committee that we would be able to handle these situations internally. I was hoping Mr. Landon would admit his mistake and the hurt it has caused the city. I wanted to get him extra help and training to learn from this mistake so as not to do it again. However, when he doubles down and insists what he did was right and says he would do it the same way again, then I see no choice but to ask the State of Ohio to step in.” Ratliff said.

The resolution will be presented for vote at the next scheduled council meeting.