Commissioner says he stands by statements

Tucumcari District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya said he stands by statements about the decline of Tucumcari since he served on the commission in the 1980s and ‘90s.

Moya said he served as a commissioner for eight years and as mayor for eight years during that time, he said.

Moya responded Thursday during a regular Tucumcari City Commission meeting to criticisms leveled against him in a Dec. 10 meeting of the Tucumcari Economic Development Corp. board of directors.

Moya was criticized at the EDC meeting for statements he made in response to a Quay County Sun questionnaire in October as he ran successfully to keep his seat on the commission.

“I left a strong economic base when I left,” Moya said of his previous stint on the commission, which ended in 1990, “and it should have continued. It didn’t. It took a reverse course.”

Moya took issue with a statement from Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield at the EDC meeting in which she said businesses left Tucumcari due to corporate decisions, not city policies.

Moya responded, “City leadership should be involved so stores don’t have to close due to lack of consumers.”

Railroad had threatened to leave the city in the 1980s, Moya said, and city officials had negotiated with them to stay, but the railroads left the city in the 1990s, he said.

During the 1980s, he said, the commission had installed a new roof on the Princess Theater, but when he returned to the commission in 2016, he said, that roof had become dilapidated “due to lack of maintenance on the city’s part,” and another new roof had to be installed a few years ago.

Moya also argued against Arch Hurley Conservancy District manager Franklin McCasland’s assertion that development of Tucumcari Lake has been held up by limits on how water can enter the lake because of a lawsuit.

Moya said those legal requirements were in place during his previous stint on the commission and said the city had been working on a plan that included a bird sanctuary.

“They worked their plan around the lawsuit,” Moya said.

Moya also argued against Mesalands Community College President John Groesbeck’s statement at the EDC meeting that Moya made his remarks to be re-elected.

“I got the votes to be re-elected,” Moya said. “I wanted to educate the public” about what had happened in the city over the past 16 years, since Moya had served on the commission.

Moya also said the city has spent $50,000 a year to fund the EDC, totaling $800,000 over 16 years, but with little to show for the effort.

“I thought the people should know what has been going on,” he said.