Escambia County’s District 4 commissioner, Ashlee Hofberger, has misfired again. This time, it is on her design for an upgrade to the Pensacola Beach Toll Plaza. The design uses an Innisfree logo. Oops.
- When she unveiled the design and asked for public feedback for the $1.6 million project, Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger told WKRG, “I really wanted something that made traffic flow a lot easier, and that was big and beautiful.”
Background: Last month, county commissioners approved a $707,405 contract with Pensacola-based Jacobs Engineering to demolish the old toll plaza and install a basic automated electronic tolling system At the May 1 commission meeting, Hofberger wanted to modify this agreement to incorporate an architectural arch to house the toll equipment She had the Tourist Development Council (TDC) approve the design at its April 15 meeting.
DIG DEEPER: After she was sworn into office in October to fill that last few weeks of Commissioner Robert Bender’s term before the General Election, Hofberger ordered county staff to halt work by JNB Contracting LLC of Daleville, Alabama, to build a new 800-square-foot building in front of the Pensacola Beach Public Safety Building that would house six individual and two family-sized public-use dressing rooms. The TDC, SRIA and Board of County Commissioners had approved the dressing rooms in 2023 and awarded the contract in April 2024. The building would have been available this spring.
- Hofberger did not hold public input sessions to hear from her constituents on Pensacola Beach about her architectural arch, telling the PNJ she wanted to save time and money on the project.
By Friday, the public had begun to point out that Hofberger’s designer had copied the logo of Pensacola Beach hotelier, Innifree Hotels Its CEO, Ted Ent, told the PNJ that Hofberger never contacted him about the design A town hall could have surfaced the issue.
Plot Twist: The District 4 commissioner initially said little could be done because the design had been finalized, but over the weekend, the PNJ reported: “The arch design is not final Escambia County says and they are going into ‘phase 2 which includes a reconsideration of the design in an effort to ensure we don’t use any trademarked material.’”
You can see the design on the WKRG clip – here, Kudos to PNJ reporter Mollye Barrow for staying on his story.
The Failed Power Play
Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger’s attempt to place County Administrator Wes Moreno’s contract on the March 6 agenda—ostensibly to plan ahead before the contract’s August expiration—received zero support from her fellow commissioners during a tense February meeting.
Wes Moreno, a nearly four-decade county employee who rose from road crew worker to administrator, has overseen significant accomplishments Under his leadership, the county completed $100 million in infrastructure projects in FY 2023-24, including the Ashton Brosnaham Athletic Park Multi-Use Facility and Perdido Key Multi-Use Path Procurement solicitations have increased from 80 to approximately 140 annually under his watch.
Despite claiming to have “no specific candidate in mind” to replace Moreno, evidence suggests otherwise. Commission Chairman Mike Kohler publicly rebuked Hofberger regarding someone calling him about the administrator position while “getting off a plane.”