In the hallways of the Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, between cold beers at Intermission across the street, over Bushwackers at the Sandshaker, and even in the private covey holes of McGuire’s Irish Politicians Club, county employees, elected officials, and vendors voice in hushed tones their frustrations about Escambia County Clerk Pam Childers refusing to pay invoices that have been routine disbursements for over a decade.
- Why this matters: The whispered conversations reflect a growing crisis that’s paralyzing the county’s tourism marketing efforts and leaving local businesses caught in bureaucratic limbo. If tourism collapses, more than 18,700 local jobs are at risk.
A Decade of Smooth Operations Comes to a Screeching Halt
WEAR-TV and I have reported extensively on how the clerk’s office has withheld paying Showcase Pensacola invoices and Visit Pensacola’s expenses. The ad agencies that comprise Showcase have handled Escambia County’s tourism marketing since 2014, submitting millions of dollars’ worth of invoices that Childers’ staff paid with very few issues until September 30, 2024.
Then something changed.
- What has stunned so many people has been the Clerk’s lack of communication about her new expectations for supporting documentation. For twelve years under Childers’ leadership—and for decades under her predecessor, Ernie Lee Magaha—these same types of invoices sailed through the payment process. Now, they’re stuck in an ever-shifting maze of requirements.
Moving Goalposts and Missing Guidelines
The most frustrating aspect isn’t that Childers wants additional documentation—most vendors would gladly comply with new requirements if they knew what they were. The problem is that no clear checklist exists, and the bar keeps moving.
- Companies rush to fulfill new demands made by the clerk’s office, only to hear back weeks later that even more information is needed. It’s a costly game of bureaucratic whack-a-mole that’s draining resources and patience.
What makes matters worse is that Childers is objecting to invoices at the end of the process, after ads have been placed and money spent. This retroactive approach puts vendors in an impossible position—they’ve already delivered services but can’t get paid for work completed months ago.
While Visit Pensacola CEO Darien Schaefer and veteran ad executive Dick Appleyard have voiced their concerns publicly, many others in and out of county government were only willing to talk on background out of fear of retribution from Childers. The atmosphere of intimidation has created a chilling effect on open communication about this mounting crisis.
- Both the Tourist Development Council, which oversees how Tourist Development Taxes are spent, and the county’s budget office have repeatedly asked Childers for a clear checklist of requirements. So far, those requests have gone unfulfilled.
The TDC’s Growing Frustration
At the February 18 TDC meeting, Chair David Bear expressed the board’s exasperation with the situation:
- “There are some issues now that we’ve discussed over our last few meetings about the expectations for reimbursement by the agencies. We’ve asked the Clerk of the Court to give us an expectation: What are the rules? Where’s the goal line?”
Bear continued, painting a picture of the impossible situation vendors face: “So that when these agencies submit their documents, they know what the expectation is, and they submit what’s expected. But what’s happening is they’re submitting and then they’re getting messages back saying that’s not enough; we need more. That’s what we wanted last month, but this month we need more.”
Failed Attempts at Solutions
Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger, who serves on the TDC and has the county’s largest TDT collectors in her district, initially seemed positioned to help. She and her aide, Melanie Luna, worked with the Clerk’s office on a quick reference guide.
Bear supported the effort, but also requested “some sort of checklist of the expectation so that all of our outside agencies know exactly what it is they need to submit so that we can more timely, those folks can more timely get their reimbursements made.”
- Hofberger promised action: “We can make that request. And Melanie and I are happy to head that up as well.”
Unfortunately, what Hofberger delivered was deeply disappointing. After three months of work, she presented the TDC with a simple flyer that provides no meaningful guidance to Visit Pensacola and Showcase Pensacola—organizations that are already well-versed in Florida statutes. During those same three months, the amount owed to these vendors has more than doubled.
- When I asked Luna if they had the checklist that Bear had requested, she emailed, “The Commr (sic) interpreted it as such and wanted me to forward it.”
A Checklist That Doesn’t Fit
The inadequacy of the guidance became crystal clear when Dick Appleyard, who heads up Showcase Pensacola, met with Childers’ staff. He was handed a checklist that had been developed for Foo Foo Festival grants—hardly applicable to the complex tourism marketing reimbursements his company handles. This was the first time he had seen any checklist, despite needing reimbursement for over $1 million in marketing expenses.
- It was like being asked to follow a recipe for baking cookies when you’re trying to prepare a five-course meal.
The Broader Impact
This payment crisis extends far beyond a few frustrated vendors. Escambia County’s tourism industry—a vital economic engine for the region—depends on consistent, professional marketing efforts. When those efforts are undermined by payment delays and bureaucratic uncertainty, the entire community suffers.
- Local hotels, restaurants, attractions, and countless other businesses that depend on tourism revenue are indirectly impacted when marketing campaigns are disrupted or delayed due to payment disputes. Remember, direct visitor spending totaled $1.3 billion last year.
The Clerk’s Office has refused to pay even the most basic expenses regarding the Visit Pensacola and the visitor center. Here is a summary for January through March 2025:
| Payroll | 233,837.16 |
| A/C Repair | 687.20 |
| Carpet Cleaning | 2,406.25 |
| Cellphones | 2,287.30 |
| Copier Lease | 846.33 |
| ECUA | 602.18 |
| FPL | 5,374.27 |
| Guides | 4,377.39 |
| Insurance | 4,633.60 |
| IT Service | 3,964.00 |
| Janitorial | 2,210.21 |
| Landscape | 1,030.00 |
| Legal & Acctg | 2,050.00 |
| Microsoft | 4,057.83 |
| Office Supplies | 891.78 |
| Pest Control | 344.96 |
| Repairs & Maint. | 6,144.52 |
| Trash Pickup | 134.24 |
| 275,879.22 |
Moving Forward
The solution to this crisis isn’t complicated, but it requires clear communication from the Clerk’s office. Vendors aren’t asking for special treatment—they’re asking for basic professional courtesy: clear guidelines, consistent application of requirements, and timely communication about any changes. If Pam Childers wants to implement new standards for invoice processing, that’s her prerogative as an elected official. But those standards need to be clearly communicated, consistently applied, and reasonable in their expectations. And they should be done before the expenditures are made.
- The path forward requires honest dialogue, clear expectations, and a commitment to professional business practices from all parties involved. Escambia County deserves better than bureaucratic gamesmanship.
The tourism industry that drives so much of our local economy deserves better. And the taxpayers who fund these operations deserve transparency and accountability from their elected officials.
- We have been told that Childers has agreed to meet with Visit Pensacola representatives on Wednesday, June 4. Let’s hope checks are cut on June 5.
Read: Invoice Impasse: Childers refusing to cut checks, putting tourism at risk