Melanie Luna, administrative aide to Escambia County District 4 Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger, has resigned from her position with the county. The move comes after months of public criticism levied at both Luna and Hofberger over Luna’s connection with the controversial hiring of a politically connected, but less qualified candidate to serve as director of West Florida Public Libraries (WFPL).
Hofberger said Luna’s last day on the job was May 29. She said the decision was mutual and is not a direct result of the library director controversy.
“Melanie and I had a great conversation on Friday, and we mutually agreed that now is the right time for her to step back from her position,” Hofberger 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.”
Luna began serving as Hofberger’s aide when Hofberger was appointed to the position of Escambia District 4 Commissioner by Gov. Ron DeSantis in October of 2024. The commissioner was elected to office the following month.
Luna said she wishes Escambia County continued success and is grateful for the privilege of serving.
“Serving the residents of Escambia County has been a tremendous honor,” Luna said. “As someone who was born and raised here and is now raising my own family in this community, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have served the county I love. I am thankful for the opportunity to work alongside so many dedicated public servants across the many departments and to support the residents of District 4. I leave with a deep appreciation for this community, the relationships built, and the lessons learned.”
Library director controversy
The public controversy grew after Escambia County Administrator Wes Moreno publicly rejected the Library Board of Governance’s preferred recommendation for director of WFPL and announced his decision to select Christal Bell-Rivera as the next Library Services Director.
The position has an annual salary of $113,547 and a car allowance of $400 per month.
Bell-Rivera did not respond to a News Journal request for comment.
The Escambia Board of County Commissioners approved Moreno’s recommendation over protests from Library Board of Governance members and members of the public who rejected the decision to hire Bell-Rivera primarily due to what they said was a lack of qualifications, bypassing merit-based processes, and suspicions of political cronyism.
Bell-Rivera is married to Ronnie Rivera, former director of development for Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons’ campaign, Community Relations Neighborhood Specialist for the sheriff’s office, and a county-appointed member of the Escambia County Tourist Development Council.
Luna and Bell-Rivera are active in the same social and professional circles and appear in social media pictures together at various community events, parties and fundraisers, also leading some to question if cronyism played a role.
According to her résumé, Bell-Rivera had never actually worked as a frontline librarian and had less than four years of overall library administrative experience. All of it was with the county.
Among the primary reasons for the community outcry is that Bell-Rivera did not have a master’s degree in library science at the time of her hire, a lack of credential that could legally disqualify Escambia County from receiving about $100,000 in state library grants.
Some people who spoke to the board believed the six-figure salaried position had been arranged for Bell-Rivera from the start.
Several of the commissioners said they knew Ronnie and Christal Rivera and were friends, but they shot down accusations of cronyism as well as concerns about qualifications.
Most commissioners supported giving Bell-Rivera the job.
Some said she had successfully served as interim director since August 2025, when previous director Todd Humble retired and that outweighed any concerns over her lack of education and experience.
Commissioner Chair Ashlee Hofberger voted for Bell-Rivera’s hire adding that sometimes “heart” is more important than what is on someone’s résumé.
“Sometimes you have to hire somebody for the heart that they have for the community for the job that they’re doing,” Hofberger said at the board’s March 5 meeting. “Sometimes that is not necessarily exactly what’s on the job description, and sometimes the heart that somebody has and the passion that they have for the job that they do, along with other relevant experience combines and makes them the perfect fit for the job.”
“OMG, these library emails!”
Public outcry grew when text messages between Luna and Hofberger surfaced that indicated they were both working to support Moreno’s pick in Bell-Rivera and minimize WFPL’s choice for the job.
In the exchanges acquired by the News Journal through a public records request, Luna and Hofberger discuss emails citizens sent to discourage board members from confirming Bell-Rivera’s hire and encourage them to support WFPL’s unanimous pick for the position, Bradley Vinson.
Vinson is coordinator of media services for the Escambia County School District, grades K-12, with an extensive career as a librarian and educational qualifications.
“OMG these library emails. Should we respond with the ordnance that established the board of governors?” (sic) Hofberger texted to Luna. She said she wanted information that showed “just because they say they can doesn’t mean that power was given.”
They discussed putting together an email to reply to the public. They decided to include information from Bell-Rivera that showed WFPL would not lose money if she was hired before she obtained her master’s degree, among other details.
“Christal is going on the March 5 agenda PS—just spoke with Wes: it’s a straight recommendation for her, just like Thaddeus (Davenport, Mass Transit Director) and Kaycee (Lagarde, Director of Communications and Public Information) were,” Luna later texted Hofberger. “It will be placed immediately after proclamations.”
The commissioner “hearted” the message.
“Nikki came by and said Bradley has zero managerial experience,” Luna texted, referring to Escambia County Human Resources Director Nikki Powell. “I am sending & printing a packet for you with their résumés.”
“Thank you! This is ridiculous,” Hofberger texted.
“Truly ridiculous!” Luna replied.
Avid interest in the library director hire
Questions also swirled from critics of the hiring process as to why Luna attended candidate interviews conducted by WFPL’s governance board.
In the text messages, Luna writes Hofberger that “Hubble is in the interviews….it feels icky,” appearing to refer to “Humble,” the former library director.
“Well that’s something,” Hofberger replied. “I wish I had a bingo card for racist and sexist remarks this week. I’m sure his commentary would add quite a few spots.”
Text messages between Hofberger and Moreno also indicate she was pleased with Bell-Rivera getting the job.
“Miss you on the dais tonight,” she told the administrator who was not in attendance at the March 5 vote. “I hope you are doing well. Crystal passed,” adding a smiley face emoji at the end of the text.
Luna also indicated to Hofberger she had discussed the library director interviews with Moreno.
“I talked with Wes and he is firm in his decision,” she wrote. “He also told me Bradley took OFF her shoes during her interview (with a green faced, nauseous emoji) and bombed it completely. So there’s that.”
“Shoeless librarian…I can see the memes,” Hofberger texted in reply, a response that got a “Ha Ha” from Luna.
Tensions building over library director hire since 2025
WFPL Board of Governance member Lori NeSmith said she was “unceremoniously removed” from the board last November after she repeatedly confronted the county over concerns about the hiring process and selecting a qualified candidate.
One of the reasons the board was created is to find and recommend the right director for the community.
It’s a role it has traditionally filled in the past, but the county can still override any recommendation.
Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves removed NeSmith from the West Florida Public Library Board of Governance on Nov. 13, 2025—in the middle of the board’s search for its next library director.
His removal email was copied to Luna, although Moreno later said he pushed for NeSmith’s removal because he said county staff were treated “very rudely, very hatefully” during a previous library board meeting.
NeSmith said that’s not true but that her last meeting in October 2025 was “very tense” after Moreno came with none of the documentation about the hiring process that the board requested.
Board members say they were trying to follow the mandated process to select and recommend a qualified candidate, but the county was only interested in Bell-Rivera.
“The county already had their candidate chosen,” NeSmith said. “It was very obvious, because Christal’s husband was also sitting there the whole entire time in his full uniform as a member of the public, glaring at us. He was never at a meeting before then, and he was never at a meeting after that, but at that meeting, he was there, and it was extremely tense.”
She also said Bell-Rivera asked repeatedly for the board’s support during meetings despite their concerns about her lack of experience and no master’s degree at the time.
“She goes, ‘I don’t understand why you guys can’t just support me as the candidate, as the new librarian. You guys know me. You should support me.’”
Pushback from Pensacola Council member over Bell-Rivera
According to the text messages, City Council member Jennifer Braiher also messaged Hofberger the morning of March 5, prior to the board vote to hire Bell-Rivera.
She indicated she was concerned about her support of the inexperienced candidate.
“The word on the street is that it has been you, and your assistant, working the manipulation of the library director. Please tell me that’s not true! I have so much faith in you!!” Braiher texted.
“Prior to the whole situation, I didn’t even know Director of library services was (a) position in the county,” Hofberger replied. “Melanie has attended several of the meetings. And I do support Crystal, but no one’s manipulating anything. I have heard that rumor too. And I’ve also heard the rumor that if we don’t vote for Crystal that Ronnie’s gonna run against (Esc. Commissioner) Mike Kohler. I’ll be 100% honest, if that’s all it took to get running to Run, (sic) I would do that.”
“If it’s not Fires Services or EMS, I pretty much stay out of it,” Hofberger said.
Braiher urged Hofberger to adhere to the “established standards” to fill the position and to “LISTEN” to the governance board members who said Bell-Rivera was not qualified while Vinson was.
Hofberger argued that the “rumors around our office” is that Vinson “did terrible” in the interview and “even took her shoes off.”
Braiher replied in all caps that every board and community member “SAID THE EXACT OPPOSITE” and that “Bradley was exceptional.”
Hofberger also texted that “there was no way” she would put Vinson over “an entire library system,” because she has “no management experience.”
Braiher is clearly surprised by the message saying, “she manages the entire Escambia County School District library system.”
Hofberger appears to not have understood that was the case and replied that Vinson’s résumé says coordinator of media services. Braiher points out it’s the same position as a library director but is referred to as “coordinator” and not “director.”
“Your pick has much less experience in management and NO librarian experience. I am in shock!” Braiher texted.
“Again – Wes picked her and makes the recommendation to us. We approve or deny that recommendation. We don’t even have the option to choose someone else,” Hofberger said.
Community outrage
Escambia commissioners took up the texting controversy at their May 7 meeting.
The News Journal requested the messages the following day. They were provided nearly two weeks later, after the News Journal sent follow up emails copying the county attorney. The same public records had already been released to another media outlet in April.
During the board’s May 7 meeting county residents criticized the exchange of texts saying they cast doubt on the credibility of the hiring process.
Moreno confirmed he still firmly supports his chosen hire, but apologized for the optics of the texts.
The controversial hire moved the board to implement a formal no-interference policy.
Because a 2011 directive banning commissioner involvement in hiring was never formally written or enforced, the board decided to draft a new official policy defining commissioner responsibilities and boundaries.
The county administrator aims to have this formal policy formally adopted into the board manuals.
Bell-Rivera is the current library director, and there’s been no discussion to remove or replace her.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Ashlee Hofberger aide resigns after library director hire controversy
Reporting by Mollye Barrows, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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