County Administrator Wes Moreno has made a late addition to the Board of County Commissioners’ agenda tonight: “Recommendation Concerning a Human Resources Policy – Wesley J. Moreno, County Administrator.”
- It has no supporting documentation. The only explanation: “That the Board hold a discussion concerning a human resources policy regarding hiring practices.”
It will be a discussion on whether Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger, her aide Melanie Luna and HR director Nikki Powell passed by the BCC in October 2015.
Background:
In October 2011, the Pensacola News Journal aggressively investigated reports that County Commissioner Wilson Robertson tampered with the hiring process for the Escambia County Equestrian Center’s marketing director and then secured his preferred candidate a higher salary than was originally advertised.
Robertson issued a press release defending what the PNJ editorial board called “indefensible.” He said he got involved because the facility was in his district and losing money. He also defended allowing two applicants to list him as a reference, noting that many people knew him after 50 years of working and living in Escambia County.
He told the PNJ that “in all honesty” he believed Forrest Gibbs was “the most obviously qualified candidate” for the job. The daily newspaper pointed out that Gibbs had only a high school education, almost no marketing experience and a career mostly in road paving and heavy equipment sales.
- In an editorial, the PNJ wrote that Robertson owed “a sincere apology to taxpayers for engaging in one of the most egregious cases of insider influence peddling exposed at the county in many years.”
The editorial board continued, “One way he could do that is by resigning. But that’s his decision to make.”
PNJ reporter Jamie Page wrote that County Attorney Alison Rogers urged commissioners to stay out of county personnel and hiring matters because such behavior has the potential to trigger ethics charges. He also wrote that state law bans public officials from using their positions “to secure a special privilege, benefit or exemption” for others.
County Commissioner Grover Robinson stepped up and said Gibbs’s hiring was inappropriate and should be reversed.
- The issue came to a head on Oct. 20, 2011.
Commissioner Robertson moved that job applicants may not list a commissioner as a reference. His motion also created a recruitment selection blackout period during which “no Commissioner or Aide can contact Human Resources or the Selection Committee about the recruitment, hiring process or salary until an offer has been accepted.”
The policy also added that the following statements be be included in the Introduction of the County’s online job application and the Supplemental Questions Section for each Escambia County job posting, respectively: (1) “Candidates may not list a sitting Escambia County Commissioner as a reference in their application”; and (2) “I understand I am not to list a sitting Escambia County Commissioner as a reference, and, should I list such reference, I understand my application will be rejected.”
Read Oct 20 2011 Agenda Add-on.
Commissioner Robinson seconded the motion, and it carried 4-0, with Commissioner Valentino absent. County Administrator Randy Oliver removed Gibbs, and the county decided to re-advertise the position.
The state attorney’s office and the Florida Commission on Ethics later determined that Robertson broke no laws. There’s no record of the BCC repealing the policies passed on Oct. 20, 2011.
Library Director Hire
The Recruitment Selection Blackout Period for the Library Services Director position began on Jan. 2, 2026, when Christal Bell-Rivera noticed County Administrator Wes Moreno that she wanted the job.
- The Period ended after March 5, 2026, when the BCC approved Moreno’s selection of Bell-Rivera as the Library Services Director, thereby allowing the county administrator to offer her the job.
The text messages obtained by Inweekly show that Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger’s aide, Melanie Luna, twice violated the blackout period ban by attending the Library Board’s meetings and interviews and having contact with HR Director Nikki Powell.
Powell also violated the policy by visiting Luna and telling the aide that Bradley Vinson “has ZERO managerial experience.”
Hofberger mentioned Vinson having no management experience in her text exchange with Pensacola City Councilmember Jennifer Brahier, which might be seen as a violation on Hofberger’s part.
Commissioner Hofberger has defended her and Luna’s actions as due diligence.
I look forward to Moreno’s take on the policy.
Above we read, “Powell also violated the policy by visiting Luna and telling the aide that Bradley Vinson ‘has ZERO managerial experience.’” Not true.
I was one of the few citizens present at the library board meeting where the members reviewed the library director candidate resumes branded by HR Department Director Nikki Powell as “Qualified and Recommended” or “Qualified and Not Recommended.” (There was no discussion of the other resumes.) Library staff did create an audio recording of the meeting so there is a record. Powell described to the board some disagreements with her own staff. I suspect that Powell overruled them, perhaps at the direction of Moreno. There must be lots of public records to uncover. Even before Christal Bell-Rivera had formally applied for the job I was hearing from people working in the library system that Bell-Rivera was saying it didn’t matter what the library board recommended as Moreno was going to hire her. Powell said that Bell-Rivera was “Qualified and Recommended.” Powell never told the library board that Bell-Rivera met none of the minimum requirements described in the job notice sent out nationwide. Inexplicably, three of the candidates Powell had labeled as “Qualified But Not Recommended” (to include Bradley Vinson) were highly experienced career librarians. Powell referred to Ms. Bradley Vinson as Mr. Bradley Vinson. Powell thought Vinson was a man. Powell was specifically asked why she said Vinson was Not Recommended. Powell said she didn’t know what Vinson did. What? Vinson’s resume attached below was self-explanatory and she had served for four years on the library board. I spoke very briefly with Vinson. I was stunned by her depth of knowledge about policy matters and budgets. Vinson seemed fluent in all of the topics with which Bell-Rivera struggled. The BCC should direct an independent review of the Library Director selection process looking back at least to August 2025 (or earlier) when Bell-Rivera was made the Acting Library Director, bypassing the Library Board of Governance.
https://ricksblog.biz/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Bradley-Vinson-resume-1.pdf