New Commission Chairman, Vice Chairman Recognized in Installation Meeting

During the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners' installation and organization meeting Tuesday, Nov. 17 at the Blue Wahoos Stadium, the newly-elected or re-elected commissioners were sworn into office and the new chairman and vice chairman assumed their roles.

At the meeting, District 1 Commissioner Jeff Bergosh, District 3 Commissioner Lumon May and District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry took the oath of office for their term through November 2024. In addition, the board reorganized with District 4 Commissioner Robert Bender serving as chairman and District 1 Commissioner Jeff Bergosh serving as vice chairman for the coming year.

Commissioner Bender said, "Thank you, Steven, on behalf of the board, I would like to thank you for your service as chairman from Nov 21, 2019 to Nov. 17, 2020, and for your dedication, commitment and leadership. Steven, great job this year. The leadership that you've shown through everything that the county has been through this last year, thank you for that. As a lot of people have mentioned today, we couldn't do this without our families. Thank you to my family for being here and being a part of this ride. I would just like to recognize a few people here today. A lot of us would not be here without the hard work of David Stafford, Supervisor of Elections. We officially certified the election yesterday, and I would like to say congratulations on another well-run election. I would also like to thank Sheriff Morgan. I appreciate your direct conversations and also your leadership, especially this year. It's been a busy year that we have had to see a lot of each other in some unfortunate situations like the Dec. 6 terrorist attack on NAS Pensacola, community shootings and Hurricane Sally so thank you for your service to Escambia County all these years. I look forward to the next year. We have a lot of big projects that are coming up along with the other day-to-day things that we do. As we continue to recover from Hurricane Sally and COVID-19, we look forward to working with the city and also negotiating a new Sheriff's contract with Chip Simmons. I appreciate the board giving me the opportunity to do that, as your chair. Lastly, I want to thank all county employees for their hard work. Even as we do this right now, we have people out in the community doing what we do- fixing potholes, running permits and everything else. We could not do it without them. Thank you to everyone involved for making such wonderful event today." 

District 1 Commissioner Jeff Bergosh was sworn in by The Honorable Judge Gary L. Bergosh, and was read the Commission by The Honorable Pam Childers, Clerk of the Circuit Court.

Commissioner Bergosh said, "I would be remiss if I did not thank the people who are important in my life. I want to thank God, nothing is more important, nothing happens like this beautiful day, this beautiful facility, the beautiful people that are here without God. I want to thank God for all his blessings on me, this community and our wonderful country. I would like to thank my wife and children and everyone who has donated and helped with this campaign. Going forward, we can all look at 2020 and see all the terrible things that have happened, and all the calamities nationwide, but I prefer to be an optimist. The glass is half full; it is not half empty. We live in the greatest country the world has ever seen, and I believe things will get better. We will get past this virus, things will move forward and our economy will recover. Here in Escambia County, as a kid that grew up here, I know that our best days are ahead of us, and I look forward to all the great things that this board is going to do for the citizens. As a young kid, growing up in Bayou Grande in West Pensacola, living in trailer, living in a great community that I loved, I never in my life thought that I would be able to come back and serve this community in a leadership capacity. I am so thankful for what I have been able to do, the support that I have received, and most importantly, I look forward to the great things we are going to do in the future...I just have to say, we have a great staff and a great organization. There are all kinds of great plans and infrastructure improvements, and this board does great things everyday...My prediction is 2021 is going to be one of the best years this county has ever seen. So thank you for being here today, thank you for putting me back into this office for another 49 months. I am energized, and I am looking forward to it, and I thank you."

District 3 Commissioner Lumon May was sworn in by The Honorable Judge Thomas V. Dannheisser, with a reading of the Commission by The Honorable Pam Childers, Clerk of the Circuit Court.

Commissioner May said, "I am honored to be here. First, I give honor to God for allowing for me to have the ability to serve this community. To my family, to my daughter, to my son, to my wife - whenever you decide to run for office, it's not just you running, it's your entire family...To my siblings, to my mother, to my aunt and all those who sacrificed their time to make my campaign and my years of service a success, I'm grateful. I'm grateful to the young people who participated in our last election. I'm wise enough to know that you don't win at 90% and 96% because you are an island. You win because you are a uniter and have other people believe in the dream...My success is not dependent on the hard work of Lumon May, it is dependent on the shoulders of others so I stand here today, standing on the shoulders of giants. Those who proceeded me, those who came before me, whether it be our faith-based community, civil rights community, those who marched, those who stood, those who cried, those who suffered, that I may have this opportunity to serve today in what I believe is the greatest county in the United States of America, Escambia County!"

District 5 Commissioner Steven L. Barry was sworn in by The Honorable Judge Jennifer J. Frydrychowicz, with a reading of the Commission by The Honorable Pam Childers, Clerk of the Circuit Court.

Commissioner Barry said, "I want to thank you all for being here today. I want to thank God for the opportunity to be able to serve, and that's what I hope folks recognize amongst the board and amongst the other public servants that we have here today. You always want to see an attitude of servant leadership. You lead by your actions and you show the public that you intend to serve and by your service and not just your words. That's what Escambia County elected officials do. That's what our constitutional partners do, and I think that is what the citizens want to see. I think that's also indicated by the reelection of all three commissioners that were up this year. Hopefully, that speaks to the work that the board has done the last three years. I am also very thankful to have my mom here today."

This meeting will be placed on ECTV and can be viewed on the Escambia County Facebook page, along with additional photos. Most commission meetings can be viewed live on MyEscambia.com/ectv, channel 98 for Bright House, Cox Cable and Mediacom (Pensacola Beach) subscribers and channel 99 for AT&T U-verse subscribers and are available on ECTV On Demand.

For a complete schedule and information regarding all county meetings, please view the calendar.

For more information, please contact the Escambia County Office of Community and Media Relations at 850-595-3476 or email [email protected].

The board reorganized with District 4 Commissioner Robert Bender serving as chairman.


District 1 Commissioner Jeff Bergosh was sworn in and will serve as vice chairman this year.


District 3 Commissioner Lumon May was sworn into office.


District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry took the oath of office.