Moriarty Mayor Brandon Webb resigned from office during a special city council meeting Monday night, citing ongoing political opposition and frustration with what he called constant resistance to his reform efforts.
“I’m tired of getting stabbed in the back,” Webb said in a phone interview with The Independent News on Wednesday morning, explaining his decision to step down. “Since I came into office, since I was elected, it’s been a fight every step of the way.”
Webb’s resignation comes after months of attempting to address what he previously called a financial “mess” that included more than $5 million in unbudgeted grant spending and nearly a decade of mismanaged records dating back to 2015.
Webb, who took office in January 2024, described persistent resistance from the city council to his reform efforts.
“Everything I’ve tried to do has been a fight from the get-go,” he said. “A month in, they fired the city clerk that I appointed, and then I went out and hired another city clerk, and they finally ran her off.”
The mayor, who described himself as “not a politician by any means” but rather “a blue collar worker,” said he returned to his hometown after 20 years away and “saw it was in worse shape than when I left.”
“I had no idea coming into the office, the mess we were in,” Webb said in an August interview with The Independent. “I had no clue that it was this bad, the magnitude of everything coming down the pipe.”
Despite the challenges, Webb urged his supporters to remain engaged in city government.
“My hope and prayer is that those who are the citizens that supported me, I hope and pray that they would get involved,” he said. “People in numbers have a voice, and one position anywhere can change everything.”
Webb acknowledged the limitations of the mayor’s role in city operations.
“The mayor doesn’t have power over a lot,” he said. “Everything I had to do, I had to go through council and council approval.”
When asked about how the financial problems developed before his administration, Webb attributed them to “laziness and just uneducated” oversight.
“I think truthfully, honestly, I think they thought, ‘Oh, this is just small town America the way it’s always been.’ And so I don’t think they took a lot of seriousness with their jobs.”
The resignation caps Webb’s efforts to implement what he called sweeping reforms in city government.
“We have a responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Webb said in August. “That means understanding how this happened and ensuring it never happens again.”
The mayor’s departure follows Clerk/Treasurer Deborah Liu’s Aug. 15 resignation, which Webb said at the time made him “saddened.”
“Her resignation is sad for me. I hated to see Deborah go,” Webb said in August. “She really came in and gave it her best for the time that she was here, and I appreciate everything she did.”
Liu, hired in December 2024 as an outsider to help clean up the city’s books, uncovered extensive financial irregularities, including undisclosed IRS penalties, years of failed audits and systematic problems with the city’s accounting software dating back nearly a decade.
City audits revealed Moriarty had spent over $5 million beyond approved budget amounts in fiscal year 2023 across police, fire, sewer and federal grant programs. The 2022 audit found the city’s financial records were so problematic that auditors issued a “disclaimer of opinion,” meaning they could not verify the accuracy of any financial numbers. After reporting on the audits and issues raised by the mayor and former clerk, the New Mexico State Auditor’s office began a review of Moriarty’s financial practices, with officials visiting the city multiple times in recent months.
Webb had previously acknowledged the long road ahead for the city, saying in August: “There’s a long road ahead. But exposing these problems is the first step toward fixing them.”
New Moriarty Clerk/Treasurer Emily Sanchez directed all questions about Webb’s resignation on Wednesday to the city’s attorney, who refused to comment. Sanchez did confirm that City Councilor Bobby Ortiz is serving as the acting mayor.
Webb praised local media coverage from NM.news and The Independent and said he hoped it would continue to hold city government accountable.
“My hope is that you guys just continue coming to the meetings, continue reporting,” he said. “People have a right to know. I wish we could pack the council chambers every meeting, you know, but, but I think just reporting the real news and being truthful and transparent is helpful.”
