It has bothered me that Pam Childers went to such lengths to avoid filing her husband’s Form 6. Why? Hundreds of candidates around Florida had no problem completing the form and submitting it on a timely basis.
Background
Attorney Bruce Childers failed to qualify to run for Escambia County Supervisor of Elections (SOE) because he did not provide the SOE with a signed and completed Form 6 before the noon deadline of June 14.
- Form 6 is a full and public disclosure of the candidates’ financial interests, including net worth, assets and liabilities valued at over $1,000, joint liabilities, interest in specified businesses, and primary and secondary sources of income.
- Pam and Bruce Childers tried to get away with presenting the photo of the first page of the form, which showed no digital signature. The photo was of the page on her laptop.
Sworn Testimony
Through a public record request, we obtained the transcript of the emergency hearing in which the judge upheld Childers not qualifying to run.
Attorney Ed Fleming’s first witness was Bruce’s wife, County Clerk Pam Childers, who testified that she is a CPA – Certified Public Accountant (Note: She got confused in the hearing and said she was a “certified professional accountant”).
From the transcript:
Ed Fleming: “Did you have occasion to assist Mr. Childers in the qualification process?”
Pam Childers: “I did on the Form 6 because I had to do it and there are new rules. It’s different for incumbents versus new candidates. It’s a little confusing. So, yes, I provided assistance, and I had to separate our assets out.
Fleming: “Did anyone else provide assistance as to the financial disclosures, in particular your financial adviser?”
Pam: “Not ours. Our financial adviser assisted me to find the reports on their website. It’s a Merrill Lynch website.”
The Commission on Ethics shows that Pam filed her Form 6 on May 30. The financial information was as of Dec. 31, 2023. See Form 6_Pam_Childers.
- When the Childers were notified that Bruce failed to qualify, they presented the SOE office with his completed Form 6 the next week. The form shows that Bruce digitally signed it on June 12, two weeks after Pam completed her Form 6.
- Bruce’s financial information was also as of Dec. 31, 2023. See Form 6—Bruce Childers given to SOE after the deadline.
Why would Pam fight giving the full Form 6 when Bruce filed his paperwork on June 12?
As she testified, CPA Pam completed both forms, but the forms (both as of Dec. 31, 2023) show significant differences.
Pam lists assets valued at $1.74 million that she didn’t list on Bruce’s Form 6.
She lists assets valued at $446,620 for Bruce that she didn’t list on her Form 6.
They have shared assets of $2.2 million that are the same on both forms.
Pam has some of the same assets but with different values on the two forms.
It would appear Pam and Bruce have nearly $5.9 million in combined assets.
According to the forms, they both individually owe the same amount, $23,997, to My Pensacola Credit Union.
Pam’s real net worth, $4,712,285, is almost identical to the net worth on page 1 of her Form 6, $4,712,649.
However, the Form 6 she completed for Bruce shows a difference of $859,511:
| Form 6, page 1 – Bruce | $ 4,461,673 |
| Real Net Worth – Bruce | $ 3,602,162 |
| Difference | $ 859,511 |
Merrill Lynch advisor Cameron Smith accompanied Bruce and Pam to the SOE office, so we should assume all the asset data on Bruce’s Form 6 is accurate. Why else would he be at the SOE office?
Pam has worked for city and county government for most of her adult life. However, her real net worth is over $1.1 million more than that of her attorney spouse.
Bruce and Pam both digitally signed this statement on page 4 of Form 6:
Under the penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing Form 6 and that the facts stated in it are true
- Did one or both of them commit perjury?
Analysis based on Form 6s completed by Pam Childers
| Pam | Bruce | |
| Net Worth as of 12/31/23 on Form 6, page 1 | $ 4,712,649 | $ 4,461,673 |
| Household Goods as of 12/31/23 on Form 6, page 1 | $ 305,250 | $ 220,250 |
| Assets Valued Over $1,000 | ||
| 2405 Hallmark | $ 650,000 | $ 650,000 |
| 1100 Fort Pickens Road | $ 625,000 | $ 625,000 |
| 407 Kenilworth, NOLA | $ 340,000 | $ 340,000 |
| 3655 Bayou Blvd | $ 293,000 | |
| 2280 Cedar St, Williams, Az | $ 100,000 | |
| My Pensacola Credit Union | $ 64,790 | |
| SmartBank | $ 27,840 | $ 15,962 |
| FMI LgCap Inst | $ 37,644 | |
| Fid500 Indx | $ 46,598 | |
| FidMdCap | $ 68,653 | |
| NCIT indx 2030B | $ 628,511 | |
| ML CMA Account | $ 402,500 | |
| CD Goldman Sachs BK USA | $ 100,494 | |
| Alphabet Inc SHS | $ 143,748 | $ 143,748 |
| Amazon Com Inc | $ 136,746 | $ 215,754 |
| American Tower REIT | $ 45,317 | $ 45,317 |
| Apple Inc | $ 240,714 | $ 407,689 |
| Blackrock | $ 72,419 | $ 72,419 |
| Clearway Energy | $ 35,049 | $ 35,049 |
| Costco Wholesale CRP DEL | $ 81,483 | $ 81,483 |
| Exxon Mobile Corp | $ 38,247 | $ 47,910 |
| Honeywell Intl Inc | $ 52,154 | $ 52,154 |
| Proctor & Gamble CO | $ 58,592 | $ 58,592 |
| Regins FINL Corp | $ 29,144 | $ 39,402 |
| Southern Company | $ 95,948 | $ 95,948 |
| T Mobile | $ 16,421 | $ 32,842 |
| Fidelity Equity Div Inc FD | $ 132,289 | |
| Fidelity Blue Chip Growth | $ 165,769 | |
| Chevron | $ 3,801 | |
| Berkshire Hathaway | $ 65,625 | |
| Merck & Co. | $ 9,880 | |
| Verizon Communications | $ 21,585 | |
| Altria Group | $ 20,627 | |
| General Electric | $ 3,576 | |
| Carnival | $ 12,051 | |
| Conoco Phillips | $ 11,417 | |
| Total Assets Valued Over $1,000+Household Goods | $ 4,736,262 | $ 3,626,139 |
| Liabilities Over $1,000 – My Pensacola CU | $ 23,977 | $ 23,977 |
| Net Worth | $ 4,712,285 | $ 3,602,162 |
| Pam Only Assets | ||
| 3655 Bayou Blvd | $ 293,000 | |
| 2280 Cedar St, Williams, Az | $ 100,000 | |
| My Pensacola Credit Union | $ 64,790 | |
| FMI LgCap Inst | $ 37,644 | |
| Fid500 Indx | $ 46,598 | |
| FidMdCap | $ 68,653 | |
| NCIT indx 2030B | $ 628,511 | |
| ML CMA Account | $ 402,500 | |
| CD Goldman Sachs BK USA | $ 100,494 | |
| Total Pam Only Assets | $ 1,742,190 | |
| Bruce Only Assets | ||
| Fedelity Equity Div Inc FD | $ 132,289 | |
| Fidelity Blue Chip Growth | $ 165,769 | |
| Chevron | $ 3,801 | |
| Berkshire Hathaway | $ 65,625 | |
| Merck & Co. | $ 9,880 | |
| Verizon Communications | $ 21,585 | |
| Altria Group | $ 20,627 | |
| General Electric | $ 3,576 | |
| Carnival | $ 12,051 | |
| Conoco Phillips | $ 11,417 | |
| Total Bruce Only Assets | $ 446,620 | |
| Shared Assets on both forms | ||
| 2405 Hallmark | $ 650,000 | |
| 1100 Fort Pickens Road | $ 625,000 | |
| 407 Kenilworth, NOLA | $ 340,000 | |
| Alphabest Inc SHS | $ 143,748 | |
| American Tower REIT | $ 45,317 | |
| Blackrock | $ 72,419 | |
| Clearway Energy | $ 35,049 | |
| Costco Wholesale CRP DEL | $ 81,483 | |
| Honeywell Intl Inc | $ 52,154 | |
| Proctor & Gamble | $ 58,592 | |
| Southern Company | $ 95,948 | |
| Total Shared Assets on both forms | $ 2,199,710 | |
| Same Asset but Different Amounts | Pam | Bruce |
| Amazon Com Inc | $ 136,746 | $ 215,754 |
| Apple Inc | $ 240,714 | $ 407,689 |
| Exxon Mobile Corp | $ 38,247 | $ 47,910 |
| Regins FINL Corp | $ 29,144 | $ 39,402 |
| T Mobile | $ 16,421 | $ 32,842 |
| Total Same Asset but Different Amounts | $ 461,272 | $ 743,597 |
| Pam Only | $ 1,742,190 | |
| Bruce Only | $ 446,620 | |
| Shared | $ 2,199,710 | |
| Separate but the Same – Pam | $ 461,272 | |
| Separate but the Same: Bruce | $ 743,597 | |
| Total Assets Valued Over $1,000 | $ 5,593,389 | |
| Household goods – Pam’s Form 6 | $ 305,250 | |
| Total Assets | $ 5,898,639 | |
| Liabilities in excess of $1,000 – on both forms | $ (47,954) | |
| Net worth – Combined | $ 5,850,685 |
#notreadbypamchilders