County Clerk Pam Childers’ animosity for Commissioner Lumon May is well known.
- Ask anyone who has overheard her rants against him in the confines of the Irish Politicians Club or while she was celebrating with the FSU alums or over cocktails at a former county commissioner’s MyPillow party.
An Escambia County Road Crew team knew of Pam’s contempt for the county’s lone Black elected official. They were sure she would run with any complaint against him without calling May or county staff for clarification.
- Like Donald Trump in his debate with Kamala Harris, Childers took the bait.
Since November 2023, County Clerk Pam Childers has investigated an “anonymous complaint” that Commissioner Lumon May ordered the Escambia Road Department to pick up yard debris on his family’s property. While a grand jury found no crime had been committed, it suggested Commissioner May reimburse the county for the work.
The Tale of Three Invoices
Pam sent Commissioner May two invoices for the work in July:
- On July 9: $4,253.74
- On July 23: Corrected invoice $7,412.76
- Finally, Childers sent an invoice that Commissioner May paid, even though he still felt the numbers were incorrect: $3,052.87.
Why did it take Pam three attempts to come up with a final dollar amount? She boasts about her accounting acumen and being the county’s watchdog.
Pam told the PNJ: “There are inherent problems with the County’s record keeping, but at this juncture, I relied on the documents provided without additional verification of their control structure.”
She threw this jab: “Hopefully, better governance will be required under the leadership of the new commissioners.”
Complaint Built on Lies
Dig Deeper: What Pam did not tell the reporter was the Road Department employees lied on the work orders – something her staff would have discovered had they contacted County Administrator Wes Moreno when the “anonymous” complaint was received.
Moreno did investigate the incident when he was notified in February by the state attorney’s office that Pam had sent the complaint to them after her “investigation.”
- He reviewed the vehicles’ GPS data and found the hours listed on the work orders were fraudulent.
Pam presented the falsified work orders (Falsified) as the official record. However, Moreno corrected the orders (Correct Orders). Here are a few of the discrepancies on the Monday work order:
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- Robert Shelty: Childers 5 hours; Verified 1.04 hours
- Terrance Beasley: Childers 5 hours; Verified 2 hours
- James Gourdas: Childers 5 hours; Verified 1.03 hours
- Greg Eaton: Childers 5 hours; Verified 1.03 hours
- Crew Truck: Childers 10 hours; Verified 3.25 hours
- Grapple Truck: Childers 15 hours; Verified 5.03 hours
The GPS showed Beasley only hauled one load and then visited Wendy’s and Whataburger. Eaton and Goundas only spent about an hour on-site and hauled 1.5 loads. See Beasley Eaton
Moreno’s investigative report, dated Feb. 12, said Field Supervisor Walker shared a video that he had taken of the property. In the video, Walker provided commentary about the pile’s size and placement on private property, and the work was initiated by a commissioner. See Moreno Report.
- Walker told Moreno that Jamey Higdon had directed him to pick up and remove the debris. Walker later called the county administrator to correct his statement and said that Higdon had only told him to use his best judgment.
Supervisor of Elections Robert Bender told us that when he was a county commissioner, he would always get follow-up calls if a road crew inspected the site and found the debris was beyond the right-of-way. Walker never spoke with Commissioner May.
The commissioner’s attorney, Eric Stevenson, made it clear that his client never requested the county to clean his property. He never permitted a road crew to go on his property or was ever told they planned to do it.
He wrote, “While he does not believe he should have to reimburse the county for services he never requested, out of respect for the Grand Jury, and because he does not want there to be a perception that he has received a public benefit, he is willing to pay the county for the actual amount the county expended for the removal of the debris.”
Read Signed Letter to Rogers.
Independent? Fair? Or a Political Weapon?
Dig Even Deeper: The anonymous complaint was built on fraudulent work orders that exaggerated what happened to damage Commissioner Lumon May, politically and personally.
- The photos Pam included with the final invoice were likely taken by the same people who created the exaggerated work orders, so they can’t be relied upon as accurate. More equipment was used than was needed to maximize the damage to the commissioner.
The sad thing is how much time, money, and resources the authors of these work orders and those out to damage Commissioner May have caused taxpayers.
- Had Pam made a phone call at the very beginning of this complaint, the county could have clarified this and saved the taxpayers, her staff, the state attorney’s office and everyone a lot of time.
How can we trust Pam will not use her newly formed internal audit office to punish her enemies? Will the office indeed be independent and nonpartisan?