This article was updated at 4:00pm, December 11, 2025 to add the response Trustee Chris Hernandez sent us after the article was published.
EL PASO, Tx., December 11, 2025: Last night the Ysleta Independent School District Board of Trustees appointed Henry Rivera, the former city representative for District 7 as their new trustee. After two hours of discussions in executive session, the board of trustees emerged, announcing that they had appointed Rivera to the seat vacated by Kathryn Lucero in September. Lucero resigned to move to Maine for an undisclosed new job.
Carlos Bustillos made the motion to appoint Rivera, and Cruz Ochoa seconded the motion. Trustees Bustillos, Mike Dwyer, Ochoa and Connie Woodruff voted to approve the appointment. Shane Haggerty was not present for the vote. Chris Hernandez voted against the appointment.
We attempted to contact Hernandez for comment this morning, but he did not respond before we published our story. Should Hernandez respond later, we will update this story to add his comments.
Update: YISD Trustee Chris Hernandez sent us the following comment at around 4:00 this afternoon: “my vote reflected my belief that another candidate would have best represented the Del Valle community.” He added, “that said, I respect the Board’s decision and look forward to collaborating with Mr. Rivera as we continue the work before us.”
Because much of the interviews and discussions happened behind closed doors there is not much information about what led to the decision to appoint Rivera.
Rivera is a controversial appointment because the El Paso City Council censured him with a letter of reprimand on February 26, 2024, for allowing “a non-city employee to supervise and direct day-to-day duties of a city employee.”
The letter of reprimand was the culmination of almost six months of controversy involving Rivera’s wife, Dora Oaxaca, who is running for the Justice of the Peace Pct. 5 seat currently held by Lucilla Najera.
The controversy that led to the reprimand allegedly involved Oaxaca accessing confidential city computer files and an allegation that a city employee in Rivera’s office may have attempted to commit suicide due to the working conditions at Rivera’s office.
Rivera is expected to take the seat on February 18, 2026. His term Will expire in May 2029.
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