Over the weekend, Inweekly received news that County Budget Director Amber McClure will go to work Clerk Pam Childers after she leaves the county on Aug. 20.
At the budget workshop on Tuesday, July 20, Childers told the commissioners she had some positions open.
“Like most agencies, we are down in staff,” she said. “We are trying to fill positions. I feel like this is a rebuilding year, so I did analyze my staff and to see where training merits or promotions would be.”
The clerk didn’t have to look far.
Why would Pam Childers offer her a job in the midst of the important budget workshop? Does she want to put the county in peril?
Mr. Lewis, this is an honest question. Is it true that the Fish House suit was a result of Ms. Childers’s urging? I had never realized until recently that particular fiasco might have arisen at least in part from Ms. Childers’ opining on the legality, if people have represented the situation to me accurately. The timeline is at odds with her tenure at the City, though, which is why I am wondering if there really is a connection.
There is some history here. When Amber McClure joined the City of Pensacola in 2004 as a senior accountant, Pam Childers was running the city’s Financial Services Division that included an Accounting Section. So, they’ve known each other since at least October 2004. Childers might even have been the one who hired McClure to work for the city even before she finished her graduate work in accounting at UWF. On July 20, Childers gave her very brief pitch during the budget workshop she did not mention specific positions in her office that needed to be filled. Her comment at least strongly inferred that she would focus on promoting from within and then backfilling the empty junior positions. It would be interesting to know which positions the Clerk’s Office was actively seeking to fill if any in recent months. As of July 27, the Clerk’s website shows no job openings.
https://www.escambiaclerk.com/239/Employment-Opportunities
I wonder if there was discussion in recent months between McClure and Childers about future job opportunities or other matters. As a hire of former County Administrator Janice Gilley, and having just seen what happened to HR Director Jana Still, McClure might have felt concerned for her own job security. [Last week, Bergosh did appear to blame McClure for “his” lack of preparation.] I did find a comment on the Indeed.com website about the Clerk’s Office that may hint at a need to learn more about the Clerk’s Office work culture:
“Deputy Clerk (Former Employee) – Pensacola, FL – September 20, 2020
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Politics and high school drama at it’s finest. Management is some of the worst I have ever worked for. If you want to be treated like a child, then this is the place to work! You are required to bank 40 hours of annual and sick leave at all times otherwise you will receive a warning letter to stay in your personnel file. The Clerk hires all of her personal friends for positions they are not qualified for. A criminal records manager was able to keep her job as a manager and since promoted to court services manager even after she was charged with shoplifting. Working here is like high school on a daily basis.”
So she went from working for the Clerk to working for the Clerk.
Got it.