Last night, the Escambia Board of County Commissioners approved, 4-1, County Administrator Wes Moreno’s selection of Christal Bell-Rivera as the county’s library services director, over the West Florida Board of Governance’s recommendation of two more qualified candidates.
- The deciders in the vote were the commissioners’ faith in the County Administrator’s authority to hire the director and Bell-Rivera’s seven months of performing the job on an interim basis.
The Board of Governance recommended Bradley Vinson, who heads media services for Escambia County Public Services. Its second pick was Chris Hare, current division manager for WFPL. The board had worked with Bell-Rivera for seven months and didn’t believe she should have the job.
Why Bell-Rivera?
Moreno, who has been out of the office since January, didn’t attend the meeting. Assistant County Administrator Debbie Bowers took some ownership of Bell-Rivera’s selection and addressed public criticism that the selection of Bell-Rivera, who has served as interim director since August 2025, has faced.
- “Overall, I have nine directors that report to me, and I hired half of them since I’ve been here with Wes and with Jamie,” Bowers told the commissioners. “I know what is required of a director to run a department. This is a sizable department with a $12 million annual budget and with 111 employees.”
She continued, “When I was asked to step into this, I don’t know. The library doesn’t report to me, so I did some research to make sure I knew what I was doing. When I did the research, I talked to Nikki. I looked at Christal’s resume. I looked at the fact that it says or equivalent experience.”
Bowers said that Bell-Rivera’s time as deputy director (March 2023-August 2025) met the equivalent experience exception. She said that since taking over as interim director last August, Bell-Rivera “has kept operational continuity. She’s ran the $12 million budget. She has managed 111 people. She has filled strategic vacancies that has improved the workforce quality.”
The assistant county administrator said she had talked to the Florida State Division of Library and Information Services and was “assured that not only would we be able to get the funding or be eligible for the funding, other library systems in the state of Florida do not have their director listed as the appropriate person to get this funding.”
When Commissioner Lumon May questioned whether the county attorney had reviewed the matter about state funding, Commission Chair Ashlee Hofberger quickly came to Bowers’ defense. “In Debbie’s defense, nothing’s 100% sure when it comes to state funding. The statute interpretation is up for legal debate.”
May expressed concern over losing the state funding and felt the board had been given two different opinions on it.
Hofberger cut him off. “I also don’t think we got two different opinions. I think Debbie had more current information than Alison had.”
County Alison Rogers made it clear she hasn’t been involved in the hiring. “I have not been engaged in any conversations with the state division of libraries. That has not been on my plate.”
Commissioners Debate
Commissioner Steven Barry stated that he would support whomever County Administrator Wes Moreno chose for the position. “If he’s willing to put his goodwill with his board, who employs him, on the line for Ms. Bell Rivera, I’ve got 14 years of confidence and trust in Wes’ decision making, and I’m going to support that.”
- Commissioner Stroberger agreed with Barry. “It’s our administrator’s decision to hire who he thinks is best qualified. I’m sure he took everything into account, and I trust his decision.”
“Sometimes you have to hire somebody for the heart that they have for the community, for the job that they are doing, and sometimes that’s not exactly what’s on the job description,” said Chair Hofberger, whose office has been involved in the hearing process.
She continued, “Sometimes the heart that somebody has, and the passion they have for the job that they do, along with other relevant experience, combines and makes them the perfect fit for the job.”
Commissioner Mike Kohler was the lone vote against hiring Bell-Rivera. “We don’t listen as well as we should to our boards…I feel when a recommendation comes from our citizens, the county administrator should very rarely and infrequently change that position only if all merits equal and for good cause.”
He complained that Bowers didn’t tell him that Bell-Rivera failed to meet the education requirements. “I had an interview process with you on Monday,” Kohler told Bowers, “and I wish you would’ve told me that because I was a little bit frustrated when I found that out today.”
A public speaker mentioned a post on Rick’s Blog and a letter that Melanie Luna had sent out. Ashlee Hofberger said, “I don’t read Rick’s Blog or the National Inquirer.” However, if Hofberger did “read” Rick’s Blog, she might be better informed on community issues. Elsewhere in the media, on Thursday NewsRadio 92.3’s Andrew McKay feigned ignorance of the library director selection scandal pretending to have not received the e-mail that I sent to the county commission and him too describing my assessment as one of only five “citizens” who sat through all four in-person candidate interviews on February 20th. McKay added that he was “a very good friend” of Ronnie Rivera, always a hint that he’s not objective. McKay also said that he didn’t see why the Library Director needed to be a Librarian or have library experience. Further, echoing the position of County Administrator Moreno, McKay said he didn’t see a need for a West Florida Public Library Board of Governance. On February 20th, Acting County Administrator Debbie Bowers sat a few feet away from me and I had a clear line of sight. I don’t recall seeing her take notes. I knew that Hofberger’s Aide Melanie Luna was a close friend of Christal Bell-Rivera and may have been involved with Moreno in orchestrating the November 13th firing of a Library Board member. Just prior to the start of the meeting, both Hofberger and Luna were huddled in animated chatter with the Rivera clan in the back corner of commission chambers. They were blocking the aisle. As I tried to move past them to get to the restroom, Ronnie Rivera scowled at me and wouldn’t let me pass. I pushed him aside. If true that the Library’s Board of Governance is a mere paper tiger then hard to see the point of having an Interlocal Agreement between the City (two board members) and County (three board members). Presume city voters would be glad to no longer pay the Library Property Tax to the county and get our three buildings back to use for “city” purposes. There’s no reason the city can’t have a Pensacola Public Library System to even include a few libraries east of 9th Avenue. As Robin Reshard did so eloquently say last night, the shockingly contemptuous action of the BCC may turn out to be a “pyrrhic victory.”