In Depth: Clerk-Elect Pam Childers Letter To Employees

January 8, 2013

The following letter was sent from Escambia County Clerk-elect Pam Childers to employees:

January 4, 2013

Dear Fellow Employees:As your incoming Clerk of Court, I would like to take this opportunity to wish each of you a Happy New Year. I trust that you and your families enjoyed the holiday season, and I look forward to getting to know you and working with you beginning Tuesday.

I am sending you this letter so that there will be no confusion or misunderstanding about my intentions for this office going forward. My goal is not to “clean house,” nor is it to make life difficult for you. My job, as the elected Clerk of Court and Comptroller, is to serve the taxpayers in a fiscally responsible and efficient manner.

I want to inform each of you about the efforts that my transition team has made since the primary election to ensure a smooth transition for you, for the taxpayers, and for the agencies we serve. I started the transition process by requesting an internal transition team; however, I was met with a response many weeks later that I could meet the leadership team consisting of five people in early November. Since that first request on August 23, 2012, I have made repeated requests for information, names and addresses of staff to initiate correspondence, meet with each of you individually, and other basic transitional access. My attempts for information were frequently delayed or not taken with priority. Communication with the outgoing Clerk was one way; never did he reach out to have a conversation to assist with the transition or provide an environment open to interaction.

In addition to these disappointing transition steps, since my election there have been several aberrant financial decisions. In summary, over $1,000,000 of additional personnel expenditures have been expended or committed during the transition period, as well as nonmonetary actions that adversely affect the ease of transition. These include:

  • September 19, 2012 – Revision of the leave buyback policy from a fiscally conservative, limited policy to an unlimited plan that cost several hundred thousand dollars.
  • September 2012 – Bonuses totaling $225,913 (lump sum 3% of salary), FY2012
  • October 2012 – Pay raises of 4% totaling $290,000 annually (3% for management), FY2013
  • November 2012 – Buyback of leave totaling $290,230, including individual requests of over 400 hours, FY2013
  • Approximately 17 new hires (both full time and student positions)
  • Promotions to the highest paid positions (Administrators and Directors)
  • Employees physically relocated to other parts of the building.
  • Long-term front office employees moved to outlying offices or transferred to other departments.

All of these transactions occurred within three months of the August 14, 2012 election, with two of the largest financial outlays taking place within weeks of that election.

Most troubling about these expenditures is the fact that none of them appear to have been part of a clear budget process. In researching the budget submissions to both Escambia County and the Florida Clerk of Court Operations Corporation (CCOC), it appears that neither the FY2012 nor the FY2013 budgets included or projected employee bonuses or raises. Moreover, the Escambia County Commission specifically asked Constitutional Officers, who are funded by county revenues, to refrain from giving raises; likewise bonuses were never expected to occur. As a result, it appears that none of these expenditures was approved by the funding agency.

Budgets for most, if not all, Florida governmental agencies have been tight for over five years. Most government employees at the state and local levels have not had raises during this period of time. In fact, only four years ago the Clerk’s office had to layoff twenty (20) upper level and key staff employees because of a fiscal crisis, making these recent expenditures even more puzzling.

It is for these reasons – a lack of transparency and full disclosure on the part of the outgoing administration, unbudgeted financial expenditures, and questionable employee policies- that as of January 8, 2013, the pay raises for Clerk’s employees given on October 8, 2012 will be suspended pending further budget review and audit. This decision is based on an effort to protect Clerk’s employees from layoffs due to these unexpected, unexplained, and imprudent financial decisions by the outgoing administration. Without adequate information and justification from my predecessor and his administration, these unbudgeted expenditures cannot continue without potentially incurring employee layoffs.

For twenty years I have worked at the City of Pensacola finance department. I have been in your shoes, I have faced the challenges you face. I know that this decision will cause difficulties for some of you, and that many family decisions are made based on financial expectations. I firmly believe that each of you is deserving of these raises, but for the sake of all of us and out of respect for the taxpayers whom we serve, we must be wise and prudent.

Hopefully this letter has given you some perspective on my decisions and my efforts to reach out to you prior to now. I would have preferred to meet with all of you personally, but unfortunately that was not permitted by the outgoing Clerk during this transition. I look forward to talking with you at an introductory meeting I have scheduled for Friday, January 11, 2013 at 7:15am to talk about my plans for the future.

Sincerely,
Pam Childers
Clerk-Elect

Comments

One Response to “In Depth: Clerk-Elect Pam Childers Letter To Employees”

  1. Childers Fan on January 8th, 2013 10:36 am

    I don’t want to see anyone lose their job, but I think salaries should be cut on top of the pay raises. There are some who make way more than people I know with degrees in this county. Lets publish their salaries now and compare them to what they were making in 2007 (the last time they were published for John Q citizen to see). I know Mr. Magaha doesn’t feel sorry about his actions, but how do the Clerks staff feel now?

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under General