By Lauren Lifke
Weeks after announcing that he wouldn’t be running for reelection in the Moriarty City Council, Steve Anaya was appointed mayor on Oct. 8 after the former mayor abruptly resigned due to the city’s issues with financial transparency.
Anaya’s first priority is to resolve those issues and restore the public’s trust, he said in an interview with The Independent.
Moriarty is finishing its fiscal year 2024 audit right now, Anaya said, and is getting started on its FY25 audit afterward.
In July, the then-city clerk and treasurer Deborah Liu brought to attention a myriad of discrepancies in the city’s tax reporting and financial recordkeeping. A few weeks later, Anaya disputed some of the concerns, arguing that although there were transparency issues, the city’s financial situation was otherwise doing alright.
“There’s no missing money, there was no fraud. A lot of it was administrative errors that we’re taking care of now, and we’re moving forward,” Anaya said. “Obviously, you have to have accountability, and that comes from your recordkeeping.”
When former Mayor Brandon Webb resigned, he said a lot of the financial issues were rooted in negligence and city employees not taking jobs seriously. Anaya told The Independent that he hopes to change the approach to recordkeeping and work together with the council to bring awareness to the problems.
“I think everybody wants to do the right thing,” Anaya said.
Aside from the main financial issues that have been catching the public eye for months, Anaya said he plans to otherwise advance the city with short-, medium- and long-term goals.
He plans to fill up open jobs, which will help with the city’s staffing, he said. Open jobs include those in public works and the police department.
Anaya said public works are also a priority of his. In the long term, he said he wants to expand the city’s exits near McCall’s Pumpkin Patch to allow for easier access on and off Interstate 40.
Right now, the city is doing a long-range comprehensive plan, Anaya said. This involves getting input from the public about infrastructure, quality of life, public safety, activities and proper housing, Anaya said. A big priority for him, he said, is ensuring economic development and expanding housing and businesses in Moriarty.
When Anaya was appointed at the Oct. 8 City Council meeting, he was met with some backlash and confusion from public commenters. Just weeks before, he had announced that her would be stepping down for personal reasons — mostly to spend more time with his family, including his 96-year-old father.
Community members wondered why he went on to accept the mayoral position despite that. Anaya said that, at the time when he announced that he wouldn’t be running for reelection, he didn’t know that the then-mayor was planning on stepping down. Once the position was open, though, the council didn’t know who would take over. After unanimously appointing Anaya, he accepted the position.
“Life’s full of surprises, and you make the adjustment when you need to make the adjustment,” Anaya said.
