Pittsburgh Housing Authority board Chairman Pat Ford plans to launch a review of spending practices at the agency, he said yesterday in the wake of reports on a broad range of expenses.

"There are some invoices that, when you look at them, it makes you scratch your head," he said of a pile of purchasing forms Mayor Luke Ravenstahl asked him to review. They document spending on clothing, chocolate, a concert and $2,000 laptop computers.

"I will be looking at an investigation of all of those invoices and any other things that arise out of the course of this investigation," he said. "Step one is developing that scope ... then I will know if I can use the existing staff on the Housing Authority, or if I need to bring in an outside auditor."

Last month Mr. Ford was asked by the mayor to advise him by yesterday on spending first reported by KDKA-TV reporter Marty Griffin. The breadth of the purchasing documents led him to seek more time for the review.

"If everything is good, and there is no wrongdoing, then so be it," Mr. Ford said. "But if there has been wrongdoing, then we have to address it."

Authority Executive Director A. Fulton Meachem Jr. said that he reined in some spending -- on things such as gourmet chocolates and coffee -- after taking his post in 2006. He defended some allocations since then as either privately funded anti-drug activities, or federally funded efforts to help build positive sentiment in the community and within the authority's thousands of families.

Mr. Meachem defended the purchase of Dell Latitude laptop computers, saying the price was determined by a state computer contract, and the expenses were warranted because there were some staff members who wanted to take work home.