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New Escambia Clerk Childers Cuts Department Pay Raises
January 8, 2013
Today is the first day on the job for newly elected Escambia Clerk of the Circuit Court Pam Childers as she takes over from Ernie Lee Magaha who served for 55 years. On her first day, she is cutting pay raises and other perks that were doled out by Magaha shortly after his loss in the August primary.
The pay raises, Childers said in a letter to employees last Friday, “will be suspended pending further budget review and audit”. She also said, “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,” her letter says. “Without adequate information and justification from my predecessor and his administration, these unbudgeted expenditures cannot continue without potentially incurring employee layoffs.”
In October, clerk’s office employees received bonuses of 3 percent for managers and 4 percent for non-management employees that total about $290,000. The pay raises came after bonuses were handed out in September that totaled $225,913 — 3 percent of employees’ salaries. Also in September, a change in a leave buyback policy cost several hundred thousand dollars, with several employees selling leave time for over $10,000.
Childers is unable to take any action on the bonuses and buyback taypayer dollars because the money has already been paid out to employees. There are about 180 people employees in the clerk’s office.
Since winning election, Childers has said her transition into office has been anything but smooth, often resorting to public records requests to obtain information. She claims her attempts for information were frequently delayed.
“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,” Childers said in her employee letter.
To read Childers full letter to employees, click here.
Comments
14 Responses to “New Escambia Clerk Childers Cuts Department Pay Raises”
@Mark T … LOL, that is funny and the truth.
How productive does she think those employees will be now? She just found the absolute and quickest way to kill moral.
I’m going to take a wild guess and say She’s not going to be a very popular Boss!!!
I back Mrs. Childers 100%. Furthermore, I don’t want to see anyone lose their job, but I do think that some of their salaries need to be cut. Publish their salaries from 2007 and compare them to their pay now and let’s just see how much Mr. Magaha DID NOT give them in the way of pay raises over the past 5 years with the budget cuts. I can see an Administrator making $50,000.00 but over $90,000.00?
I am glad Ms. Childers is going to have an audit performed. Me thinks that perhaps the auditors might find an old used collard pot under Magaha’s desk. That was our money that he gave away to those good old boys…
it was much more than cost of living raises. The real question is would he have done the same if he hadn’t lost the election. He hadn’t ever spent that much money in such a short period of time on bonuses, raises, no cap leave buybacks, and new hires just since the election (previous articles estimate almost $800,000K was recently spent). I feel like he was a fantastic public servant all along but don’t know what happened at the end – sour grapes? That was OUR money Escambia County taxpayers and now we get a gas tax
This is ridiculous. Mrs. Childers stated in her letter that she was not going to “clean house”, I know multiple people who work for the clerk and they all stated yesterday that she was doing just that. Firing managers. I know in my career if I didn’t get a cost of living pay raise in 5 years I would move on. Mr. Magaha was only trying to do right to his people. I remember years ago when they turned the comptrollers office over to Magaha he saved the county a lot of money, well except for what WD Childers and the other crooked county commissioners were stealing.
Ernie gave his employees their cost of living raises when he left because he had not given them these raises in 5 years while the rest of the county employees got theirs. Nothing nefarious about it. Ernie held back of the raises to insure he had an adequate budget for emergencies like Ivan. Since he was leaving office he had every right to give the raises that he had held for a rainy day. This is just a bunch mud slinging at a man who the politicians couldn’t boss around.
Best of luck to Ms. Childers in her new job! Hope she can motivate the good ol’ boys to do a better job!
It seems that Magaha used the obama plan to give away tax payers money. The first 54 years he was in office, he did good. The last year he decided he owned Escambis Co. and didn’t won’t to give up his kingdom.
thank God for someone who will now show accountability and transparencty in the clerks office- this is bold and inspiring- shes taking our (taxpayers) financial crisis seriously- THATS what i voted for!
Ernie Lee served Escambia County scandal free for over 55 years. If memory serves me correct, he also turned surplus funds back into the County treasury many of those years. While I think that he made a valuable contribution to our County, I did not vote for him this time around. It was time for him to go. We wish him well in his retirement.
Mr. Magaha proved that no polititian in Escambia County is above reproach. We keep on seeing, but we keep electing these people who are or become so corrupt that they can’t keep their fingers out of the taxpayer’s money. They either take it or give it away. Move over South Louisiana, you just thought you had corrupt politicos.
Local career politician’s are no different than Washington career politician’s. My primary reason for voting for Ms. Childers was because no one needs to be in any office for 55 years. She is starting out right, questioning expenditures that may or may not be necessary or affordable. Its a shame our county commissioners don’t take this approach. So far as Mr. Magaha not cooperating, no surprise, President’s do the same thing every four years.
I was very surprised that Mr Magaha would act in such an excessive manner.
I see nothing wrong with a small bonus, but these are reminiscent of the crap Daddy Bush pulled when he left office back in 1992.