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Escambia County’s Chief Budget Officer Submits Resignation
July 23, 2021
Escambia County Chief Budget Officer Amber McClure has submitted her resignation.
“I wanted to share with you that I have made the decision, after much consideration, to part ways with Escambia County Board of County Commissioners. I am passionate about making a difference and appreciate the time I’ve been fortunate enough to serve the citizens of Escambia County alongside each of you,” McClure wrote in an email.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you — you are an inspirational, pleasant group of leaders — your passion is apparent,” she continued in her email to commissioners.
McClure’s last day on the job will be Friday, August 20. She is currently in the midst of leading the commission through the steps of finalizing the county’s $568 million budget for the next fiscal year that begins on October 1.
She was responsible for key decision-making regarding budget development, administration, revenue forecasting, fiscal management, capital planning and policies affecting the overall fiscal health of the county.
McClure joined Escambia County in July 2020 with 17 years of experience in accounting and financial management, most recently as the CFO at Studer Entertainment and Retail. She began her career as a senior accountant for the City of Pensacola in 2004.
Comments
25 Responses to “Escambia County’s Chief Budget Officer Submits Resignation”
I remember a time 20 years ago when I was an employee of a regulatory arm of county government. The group of commissioners at the time were up to all sorts of things, with a lot of their friends . Everywhere I went in the course of my job , people would say ” You better do what I want or I’ll call my buddy ” , referring to 1 or more of the commissioners. Then miraculously , 3 of 5 removed from office & at least 2 jailed. Then ,all of a sudden , like in the Forrest Gump memes nobody had a “buddy” anymore. Not saying any of the current commissioners should be jailed , but sometimes a shakeup of “power brokers” can be a good thing.
Get rid of the commissioners…..an obvious solution. They have NO IDEA how to run a County. Those blunderheads cause good people to leave this County then they throw in one of their “yes men” to handle the job for them. The fact that the commissioners started their illegal 401k program and now must pay the County back should be a BIG eye-opener for all of us!
Good luck to you, Ms McClure.
The City/County political system is broken. It was a good ol’ boys system for ever it seems. Now it’s who has the most money behind the scenes power structure and the People are paying the price for having such a incompetent line of political leadership at the helm and processes that are beyond archaic. There’s been talk before and it seems now it the time to eliminate the two political systems and make ‘one consolidated governance’ for all of Escambia County. The growth of this area and the constant political games demand change!
Everyone is bailing out of that dumpster fire.
In the past 200 years here in Escambia county when it became on July 17th…
Everyone here complained they dont get what they want.
Every single blow to the county with blame and accusations have held the county back.
Still 200 years later no one likes anyone and everyone trys to come up with the lowest blow to compete with each other on how low we can go.
Nothings changed in 200 years.
Same old bickering,voting,complaining..nothing new here.
A 200 year old soap opera perpetuated by all citizens, regardless or party ,color or view.
People have to change throughout..all citizens…
Accept a failure that you created.
Blame yourself when you think you are a notch above all.
Vanity kills
In 200 years your childrens grandchildrens children will be saying and doing the same thing.
Be proud of what you have accomplished now. You be very proud.
You now have bragging rights!!!!
I know this young lady and she will not compromise her honesty and integrity. Please elect different people for commissioner next term. We need new blood!!!
Nothing new under the sun.
Gilley installed her “people,” Gilley got fired.
All of Gilley’s people are having a fit–quitting or making their best play for future employment.
And Pam Childers appears to be drunk with powers she does not possess.
Stay on your lane, Comptroller.
@ concerned…some days it takes my family hours to decide where and what we will have for dinner. How would this everybody vote for every thing in the county work? Not for the republic we live in.
I watched the budget workshops. McClure did a really good job. When I oversaw a $700 million budget in the Pentagon for three years, I would have liked to have had someone of her ability and backbone working for me. In fact, I did. She’s every bit as good. That said, the BOCC is ridiculous. They didn’t seem to take the budget workshop seriously many times saying that they would eventually get around to talking about this or that “in September.” At one point, Bergosh asserted that county revenues exceeded expenses. He applauded himself and the BOCC for their “financial stewardship.” It was as if Bergosh and the other board members were on a different planet from McClure who seemed a master of the big picture and the details too. She then had to explain that the county was projected to spend more than it was projected to get in revenues. A recurring theme was that the BOCC has not giving “its” direction to staff. At one point, Bergosh discussed being overwhelmed by the amount of information. McClure countered said that she had tried to schedule meetings with him and the others. Bergosh threw McClure under the bus blaming her for it not being his priority to meet with her to discuss the budget. Bergosh told McClure that he would meet with her before the September budget hearing. That would make me want to resign too. The BOCC is hopeless.
WE NEED TO CLEAN HOUSE OF ALL THESE GUYS….Especially the guys who have made agreements to vote and stick together no matter what to get what they want for their district. The games these fools play never ends. VOTE THEM ALL OUT IN THEIR NEXT CYCLE AND INSIST ON TERM LIMITS!!!
can anybody keep a job in escambia county any more ??????????
I am so very sorry to hear this. Amber McClure is an incredibly smart and professional person and would have been a valuable asset to the County as their Chief Budget Officer. I wish her the best in where ever she goes.
we should all be involved as tax payers when we the people vote on certain things the it becomes their job to over see the issues in escambia county. besides it’s everyones tax dollars going threw the system. why should just a handful make all the calls and shots on our behalf.? I think we all should hold a vote a any project before it’s submitted . just my thought.? time for change all around the country. let’s get back to old school.
Ms. McClure has a solid resume and a lot of great traits that should have allowed her to excel in the role of Budget Manager at the County. Instead, she apparently was fed a bill of goods from various corners that she would be protected from the politics if she ran a revised budget program that kept three of the commissioners in the dark until very shortly before the workshops. I really wish we could have seen how she might have performed without getting some really bad advice from people with some pretty self-serving motives. Although the new model she presented at the workshops wasn’t nearly ready for prime time–and a person as intelligent and experienced as she is had to know this–she did bring an idea that deserves serious consideration for the budget moving forward.
It was evident to people more familiar with accounting and budgeting approaches than I am that Ms. McClure was stuck in a bad place due to other people’s politics, and that she really didn’t have many great options for this budget cycle. It would have been great if she would have stayed with it and worked with the commission rather than adhering to an “ambush” plan of boxing three of them out (which she surely did not arrive at the County on a mission to orchestrate).
Perhaps it’s true she felt disrespected at the podium. I doubt it–she’s no dummy, and it was clear from a lot of her answers that she was more than aware the thing wasn’t ready. Despite whatever sentiments she may have had upon her resignation yesterday, the commissioners aren’t the agents of setting her up to fail this go–blame that on her superiors and external advisors. It’s regrettable she didn’t stay to mend relations and join as a willing partner with the whole BCC, rather than leaving when two of them weren’t enough in that moment. While her decision may be a loss for the County, she will go on to have a successful career, hopefully at a place with superiors and mentors who have her best interests and her personal development in mind.
@Drj
Amy Lovoy was a loss as Budget Director.
This is a loss of someone with great potential. But she came from Studerville where their all about making money and she was having difficulty transitioning to a different environment.
SHOCKING that someone would want to separate themselves from politicians and/or the BOCC! Is there anything done there that is or has been in the best interest of the citizens of Escambia County? Its called moving on to get the STANK OFF!
I think every county commissioner needs to be taken out of office. Corruption is the name hi
The smartest individual within the BOCC walls and she feels it is necessary to resign. All because she educated certain commissioners about the budget process and they didn’t take too kindly to that. This is a big loss for Escambia!
Watch the Budget Workshop and you will see why she resigned, especially with the treatment from the District 5 commissioner.
They don’t want anything to change or the public to really understand the county’s financial health.
Things never change around here.
Again, I smell a rat
There must be greener pastures somewhere else with less pressure. To be continued.
Sometimes the writing is on the wall. Cut and run while you still got your dignity; ma’am
Something fishy is going on . Praying she has already got another career lined up. Santa Rosa county has a better offer.
seems strange to quit, curious about why, with a 30 day notice?
And another person of Management from the BOCC resigns. Yep, behind the scenes, the political arena is at full force and there’s more to this story. Employed for 1 year and resigns???