Texas Fire, Police Chiefs Demoted to Captains

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Sept. 22--SAN BENITO -- Police Chief George Gomez and Fire Chief Severo Ochoa will be replaced by chiefs of operations as part of a plan that will reassign them to captain positions in their departments, Mayor Joe Hernandez said Wednesday.

City commissioners on Tuesday appointed Art Rodriguez, the city's human resources and Civil Service director, to the position of assistant city manager to oversee the police and fire departments.

Hernandez said the city will replace Gomez and Ochoa with chiefs of operations who will oversee staff at the police and fire departments.

"They will concentrate solely on manpower, not overseeing the department," Rodriguez said. "That will be my job."

Hernandez said Gomez and Ochoa will be "reassigned" to captain positions at the police and fire departments, respectively.

The transfers come with salary cuts, Hernandez said, but declined to disclose their new salaries.

Rodriguez asked that the Valley Morning Star file a request under the Texas Public Information Act to obtain the information.

Gomez and Ochoa, who served as chiefs for about two years, did not return phone calls requesting comment.

Hernandez said Civil Service grievance hearings exposed concerns that led City Manager Manuel Lara to propose that Rodriguez oversee the police department.

"That's what put the icing on the cake," Hernandez said.

In a grievance hearing, officer Guadalupe Andrade argued Gomez's alleged favoritism led him to hand down light punishments to some officers accused of serious violations.

Andrade cited the case of former Assistant Chief Arnold Garcia, who Gomez placed on three-day suspension after Garcia was accused of failing to complete a drug test.

In response, officers filed a letter of no confidence, arguing other officers would have been fired for failing to complete a drug test.

An arbitrator upheld the three-day suspension for Garcia, whom Gomez demoted to captain.

Many police officers and firefighters have declined to comment on the city's decision to appoint Rodriguez to oversee the departments.

"The guys are just sitting at the edge of their seats waiting to see what's going to happen," Fire Marshal Henry Lopez, the department's spokesman, said.

"We went through this experience before," Lopez said, referring to former Public Safety Director Orlando Garcia, who commissioners fired in 2008 to end his tenure as head of the police and fire departments.

Hernandez said Rodriguez has the experience for the job.

Rodriguez, a San Benito native, holds a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice from Mountain State University in Beckley, W.V., and a master's degree in criminal justice from Aspen University in Colorado.

He served 31 years with U.S. Customs, working as a supervisory special agent and investigator, before working for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he served as a supervisory special agent and criminal investigator.