Omero Lucero elected chair of Civil Service Commission; city attorney named commission adviser

The El Paso Civil Service Commission elected Omero Lucero as its chair and Woodrow (Woody) Bear as vice chair during its Feb. 12, 2026 meeting.

Nominations opened during the annual election of officers. After nominations and brief acceptance statements, commissioners recorded a unanimous voice vote to elect Lucero chair. Woodrow Bear was later appointed vice chair by voice vote.

The meeting included a year-in-review PowerPoint and legal overview by Robert Ayenam, assistant city attorney and legal adviser to the commission. Ayenam explained the commission's authority under the city charter (Article 6) and Ordinance 80-65, described the hearing officer's fact-finding role and the commission's limited remedial powers, and summarized the standard of review as "preponderance of the evidence." He told commissioners the legal adviser's role is to support the commission's impartial fact-finding and ensure compliance with open-meetings law and the charter.

Commissioner Victor Vasquez raised concerns about the move away from an independent outside counsel (previously provided by Sergio Estrada) toward in-house representation, asking whether that change created a conflict. Ayenam and staff explained that the city attorney's office historically advises commissions and said Ayenam is acting as adviser to the commission while maintaining impartiality. "I'm not here to advocate for the city," Ayenam said during his presentation.

Mary Wiggins, the city's chief human resources officer, answered questions about training and said the commission must complete ethics and open meetings training; she also confirmed the city's practice of consulting comparator cities when developing disciplinary matrices and policies.

Commission business continued to disciplinary appeals and other agenda items after the presentation.