Escambia County Commission
Commissioners Confront Library Hiring Fallout—But Stop Short of Investigation
County Administrator Wes Moreno apologizes for “optics” while insisting the hire was his call alone; a long-ignored 2011 anti-interference policy is finally headed for a formal update.
The Escambia County Commission took up the controversy surrounding the library services director hire Thursday, with commissioners questioning County Administrator Wes Moreno about aide Melanie Luna’s involvement in the process—and about a 2011 blackout policy that was passed by the board but never formally incorporated into county policy manuals. Read Oct 20 2011 Agenda Add-on.
The discussion was prompted by text messages obtained by Inweekly that showed Luna and Commission Chair Ashlee Hofberger mocking finalist Bradley Vinson—including a quip about Vinson removing her shoes during the interview—and suggesting that Luna had attended meetings and interviews related to the hiring process. Luna is Hofberger’s aide.
Moreno: “Not a Single Commissioner Told Me Who to Hire”
Commissioner Mike Kohler opened the exchange by asking Moreno directly whether he had told Luna that his decision was firm and that Vinson had “bombed” the interview—the substance of Luna’s text to Hofberger.
Moreno did not deny it. “That statement is correct,” he said of being firm in his selection of Christal Bell-Rivera. However, he dodged that part of Luna’s texts claiming that the county administrator pointed out that Vinson took off her shoes in the interview. [Moreno was out on sick leave and did not attend the final interviews of Vinson and Bell-Rivera.]
He explained his selection of Bell-Rivera began at a board of governors meeting where he said he and staff were “treated very rudely, very hatefully.” He emphasized that no commissioner directed the outcome.
“There’s not a single commissioner sitting on this dais that told me who to hire. Not one. Not one commissioner told me who to hire.”
—County Administrator Wes Moreno
Moreno also said he was unaware Luna had sat in on interviews. “Quite honestly, I didn’t know Ms. Luna sat in on any interviews. Had no knowledge of that, didn’t know it.” He added that the hiring process involved publicly advertised, open interviews governed by Sunshine Law requirements.
The 2011 Policy That Was Never Enforced
Kohler pressed Moreno on the 2011 board directive that established a “recruitment selection blackout period” barring commissioners and their aides from contacting Human Resources or a selection committee about any recruitment or hiring process until an offer is accepted. Kohler asked whether the policy would finally be formally adopted.
Moreno acknowledged the intent to update it, but Deputy County Attorney Kristin Hual delivered a key admission: the 2011 board action was never drafted as a formal policy amendment and was never incorporated into any county policy manual.
“There was a board action, a directive, but it was never implemented. It was never incorporated into any of the policy manuals.”
—Deputy County Attorney Kristin Hual
Moreno committed to bringing a revised policy back before the board, likely at the second meeting in June, following legal review. But he made clear he did not view the policy gap as an excuse for what occurred.
“The verbiage didn’t get into a policy. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know how to conduct ourselves. This means we don’t know how to do this. So that’s where I’m at.”
—County Administrator Wes Moreno
Commissioner Lumon May pushed for a workshop before any vote, arguing commissioners should have input on any new language rather than simply inheriting a 2011 directive they had no hand in drafting.
Kohler Calls for an Apology
Kohler was direct in his criticism of how Vinson had been treated in the text exchanges, calling the shoe-removal mockery “just so mean to treat a fellow citizen in Escambia County like they’re less than you.”
- “You owe them an apology,” Kohler said, addressing Hofberger and Luna. “You may not have the courage to do it, but you owe an apology.”
Moreno stepped in and offered one himself. “I do apologize for the confusion in some of the process,” he said. “If there’s been some optics that don’t look that great, I apologize for that.” He did not, however, express regret over the decision itself.
Hofberger did not respond to Kohler’s call for an apology and made no public statement on the text messages during the meeting. She has previously defended the texts on local radio, saying she was “in no way embarrassed or ashamed” of messages she said she willingly provided in response to a public records request.
- Commissioner Steven Barry said he trusted Moreno’s account and did not believe the Hofberger-Luna communications had any effect on the hire. Commissioner Steve Stroberger said he would have cast the same vote regardless of what he now knew about the process behind the scenes.
Christal Bell-Rivera remains library services director—her hire was confirmed by a commission vote on March 5, and no commissioner moved to revisit it on Thursday. A revised hiring blackout policy is expected to come before the board at the second meeting in June, with Commissioner May calling for a workshop prior to any vote. No formal investigation into the conduct of Hofberger-Luna was initiated.
Support Our Journalism
If you like our reporting, consider buying us a cup of coffee – here. Your donation will help broaden our reporting. Thank you.
I was one of only four citizens present for all four of the in-person library director candidate interviews. I had earlier started to figure out that the “fix” was in and had alerted Chairwoman Hofberger by e-mail (info to the other commissioners) of a potential problem, not yet aware that Hofberger and Luna were in cahoots with Christal Bell-Rivera. Multiple people have told me that Bell-Rivera and Luna are best friends. They seem very cozy in pictures I have seen. I later learned of the many linkages between Luna and the Rivera’s to include professional and business connections. I urged Hofberger to have someone she trusted in the room to observe all four interviews (all documented by audio recording). Luna was only present to Bell-Rivera’s interview. Bell-Rivera (interview #2) bombed it reading almost robotic-like from script answering questions she had in advance. Bell-Rivera seemed unfamiliar with some of the bigger words. Bell-Rivera never took her eyes off HR Director Powell. After lunch, I rode up in the elevator to the fourth floor with Vinson who I ran into the lobby and Powell who seemed very uncomfortable being in the same elevator as Vinson. I was stunned by Vinson. She was masterful, in full-command of the topics. She had no pre-scripted answered and spoke off-the-cuff only sometimes referring to a few notes. She made eye contact with everyone in the room. Even Assistant County Administrator Wes Hall seemed happy with the way Vinson was answering the questions. Vinson directly addressed the current key shortfalls in the library system raised by Hall in each interview, all implicit criticisms of Bell-Rivera. I sat closest to Acting County Administrator Debbie Bowers. She took no notes. Most likely, Bowers knew well in advance that the in-person interviews were a sham event.