At the Board of County Commissioners meeting on June 17, Clerk of Courts Pam Childers told Commissioner Steve Stroberger that she didn’t ask for an attorney general opinion nor a CFO opinion.
- “I merely put them on notice that our state rep. was filing a lawsuit, and these payments are unlawful,” she said. “What I said to him is if something is wasteful, where is the teeth in the laws?”
Fact Check: Childers sent her letter to Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia on April 2. Andrade didn’t send her a demand letter notifying her of a possible lawsuit until April 14.
Contacting CFO
Before Childers sent her letter, she emailed Hannah Christian, the CFO’s director for policy and legislative affairs, to follow up on a call. The clerk didn’t sound as certain the discretionary fund checks, also known as community impact grants, were illegal.
From: Pam Childers (COC)
Sent: Thursday, April 2, 2026 3:05 PM
To: Hannah.Christian@MyFloridaCFO.com
Subject: Escambia Comptroller – Topic: Discretionary spending by Commissioners
Hannah –
Thank you for taking my call. As I stated on the phone, I drafted a letter and was planning to send to CFO Ingoglia or one of the staff members per some direction. I am requesting collaboration on discretionary spending by county commissioners. As to public policy, it seems to me that “county public purpose” needs to be better defined, discussed, and implemented at the local level. I do not believe property tax dollars should be given in increments of $500-$1,500 to the Commissioner’s not-for-profit of choice just because it feels good, expenditures from the county treasury must serve a county purpose. And if its not illegal, but “wasteful” who is enforcing? The Comptroller? How? What statutes give that authority?
Please forward the letter to the appropriate person within the CFO’s office.
Pam
PAM CHILDERS
Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller
The Letter
Childers requested “collaboration between our offices to eliminate misuse of property tax dollars and to ensure that all expenditures from the County treasury comply with applicable law.”
Childers gave her narrative regarding the discretionary funds and included unrelated disputes, such as 401(a) retirement plan. “I know that this type of spending is not confined to Escambia County, county government, or party affiliation.”
- “Sharing both legal and fiscal knowledge among our offices, I believe, will help us collectively eliminate unnecessary and improper spending of property taxes, thus allowing for some relief to taxpayers.”
Read 2026_04-02_Childers_to_CFO.
Real Reason for the Letter
The impetus for her letter wasn’t “our state rep. was filing a lawsuit.”
- She told Ingoglia that at a March 26 meeting, the commissioners indicated “a desire to ask the Attorney General to validate their authority to determine County purpose.”
- This was the board meeting where Booker T. Washington High School’s girls’ basketball team, which she had denied a community impact grant, was honored for winning the state championship.
What Happened: At the March 26 meeting, Commissioner Lumon May said he asked county staff and legal counsel to seek an Attorney General opinion on whether the discretionary fund payments are permissible.
- “If it’s wrong, Pam, I’m good,” May said. “If it’s not best practices, then let’s not do it. But let’s not lead people on. Let’s not lead them on and tell them that they’re going to get something that they’re not going to get.”
He also pushed back hard against any suggestion that Washington’s program—and its players—should bear the burden of a policy dispute that was never raised for similar payments to other schools.
- “We’re not going to make Washington High School some young African American young ladies the guinea pig of where we’re not going to pay when we paid the other ones,” May said. “That is the only thing I ask—just give us an opinion. If it’s wrong, let’s cut it out.”
Commissioner Steven Barry sided with his colleague. “It was never an issue until it was, so I think we do need some resolution.”
Trying to Avoid Attorney General Involvement
The letter to the CFO indicates the clerk wanted to circumvent the Florida Attorney General’s office getting involved.
- Childers wrote, “The Commission may indeed need help from the Attorney General, but the more appropriate assistance would likely come from the Attorney General’s newly established unit aimed at identifying and investigating misuse of public funds.”
She closed: “I look forward to your response, and I will make myself available to travel to Tallahassee if necessary.”
After Andrade’s Letter
Nearly three weeks passed without a reply from CFO Ingoglia. Childers followed up with an email to Hannah Christian in the CFO’s office, stating she copied the Florida Attorney General this time. She hoped the cabinet officers would sympathize that she might be held personally liable for $600K.
From: Pam Childers (COC)
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2026 3:31 PM
To: ‘Hannah.Christian@MyFloridaCFO.com’
Cc: Cate.McNeill@myfloridalegal.com
Subject: Adrade Demands Payment to Charities or Else – Commissioner Discretionary Spending – Property Tax Dollars
Attachments: 2026-04-14 Demand Letter on Behalf of FTGC and WEAC.pdf
Last week I received a demand letter from Representative Andrade for payment of public funds by the Comptroller’s office to two charities. If I don’t pay Andrade says he will seek to hold me personally liable for previous payments of $600k to other local charities. I hope to have a conversation with someone in Tallahassee regarding the use of the County’s property tax dollars to fund charities.
I’ve copied AG Uthmeier’s office on this email.
PAM CHILDERS
Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller.
As of June 17, nearly two months after the email, Childers has received no reply from CFO Ingoglia.
Call for Change?
At the BCC meeting last week, Childers offered a different explanation for why she contacted the Attorney General and the CFO.
“Because I got a call to ask me what kind of laws do I need changed? And so, I responded the way I did because there’s a lot of waste in government.”
- We don’t know what lawmaker called the clerk, but we do know that she sent a copy of the demand letter and her April 21 email to Sarah Caver, State Rep. Michelle Salzman’s aide. Childers to Salzman.
BTW: Childers has received no help from either the AG or CFO.
However, the Florida Department of Government Efficiency, which reports to CFO Ingoglia, has demanded more records from the City of Pensacola.
- Pensacola is the only city with a Republican mayor that is getting flak from DOGE. The other cities in the news have Democratic mayors: Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dye and St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch.
Despite Childers’ pleas and Rep. Salzman’s help, DOGE appears to have little interest in auditing Escambia County.
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