Escambia County Chief Deputy Andy Hobbs says he learned through back channels that his name was removed from the Florida Senate confirmation list for the Pensacola State District Board of Trustees. Gov. DeSantis appointed Hobbs, Ed Fleming, Zack Smith and Dr. Joel Rudman in February 2025. Rudman later resigned.
Blindsided
Chief Deputy Hobbs wasn’t looking for bad news when he walked into a Pensacola State College Foundation fundraiser meeting. However, when the meeting wrapped up, PSC President Ed Meadows pulled him aside.
“Ed came up to me very upset,” Hobbs told me this morning. “He said, ‘You hear what’s going on in Tallahassee?’ I said, ‘No, I’ve been sitting here trying to do stuff.’“
Meadows told him the governor’s office had blocked his reappointment to the Pensacola State College District Board of Trustees.
How It Happened
Hobbs had already cleared the hurdles. His reappointment had passed both the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee and the Higher Education Committee—the standard path to a full floor confirmation vote. However, his name was quietly removed from the Senate calendar without his knowledge.
I called Sen. Don Gaetz, who chairs the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee. He said, “It’s a standard practice that’s used all the time that if an appointing authority wishes to withdraw nomination, they’re withdrawn. And so the governor’s office advised us that the governor wished to withdraw that nomination.”
He continued, “And so the nomination has never gone to the floor. And the last pack of nominees for any gubernatorial appointments in this administration have already gone to the floor. So he will not be confirmed.”
No Call from the Governor’s Office
What strikes Hobbs as much as the outcome is how it was communicated—or wasn’t.
- “The governor’s office has not called me,” he said, noting that the Secretary of Education’s office and the Florida Department of Education have also been silent. “This is coming through a third party.”
The last direct contact Hobbs recalls from Secretary of Education Manny Diaz’s successor, Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas, was months ago, and it wasn’t cordial. “He was letting me know that he was displeased with my support for PBS.”
What Happens Next
Without a reappointment, Hobbs believes his term on the board will expire after the legislative session ends. “It’s my belief that 45 days after the session, my term will be over because I wasn’t reappointed,” he said, though he noted that no official from the Secretary of Education’s office has formally confirmed the timeline or next steps.
- He currently serves as vice chair of the PSC Board of Trustees and as chair of the on-campus charter school.
No Regrets
Hobbs, who serves as Chief Deputy of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff Chip Simmons, said he has no regrets about how he conducted himself on the board, including his advocacy for Meadows’ compensation and his defense of college employees.
- “I did what was best for our community, and I’m okay with it,” he said. “I wish I was staying on the board to continue to help.”
Hobbs added, “I’m sorry that my choices to support our community at all times did not bode well for me, I guess.”