The Pensacola News Journal and several other sources are reporting that Melanie Luna, Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger‘s aide, resigned last Friday, May 29. The PNJ ties the resignation to the County Administrator Wes Moreno’s hiring of Christal Bell-Rivera over the West Florida Public Library’s Board of Governance’s choice of Bradley Vinson.
- Note: Vinson’s husband, Joe Vinson, has prefiled to run against Hofberger and has gathered enough signatures to qualify, according to Election Supervisor Robert Bender. Vinson is running as a no-party affiliation candidate.
I first broke the story about Luna and Hofberger manipulating the county politics to ensure Bell-Rivera was chosen when he released a series of “Mean Girl” texts of the pair mocking Vinson. Read Shocking Behind-the-Scenes of Library Hire.
Hofberger went on radio defending Luna and the text messages: “Get a pen, write this down. I am in no way embarrassed or ashamed of the text message I legally and willingly provided in response to a public records request.” Read more.
I pointed out that Luna attending the interviews for the library services director violated anti-interference policy enacted in 2011. Commissioner Mike Kohler brought it up at the May commission meeting. 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. Moreno promised to bring up the policy in June. Read more.
Then, I obtained city records through a public record request that showed Luna instructed Mayor D.C. Reeves’ staff on how the mayor could remove Lori NeSmith, who was standing up to Moreno, from the WFPL Board of Governance. Read more.
I also found how that Luna’s Leadership Pensacola classmate, Rachel Hendrix (Lockwood), was appointed to replace NeSmith. Ronnie Rivera, husband of Christal Bell-Rivera, was in the same class. Read more.
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Hofberger told the PNJ that she and Luna “mutually agreed” that the time was right for her aide to resign, but she appeared to admit that Luna had become a distraction.
The commissioner said, “This decision allows the community to stay laser-focused on the real needs of our residents and ensures we’re moving forward together in the most effective way. We’re both excited about what’s ahead and appreciate the continued support from everyone in the community.”