City commission appointee to step down after lawsuit

Matt Bednorz, who the Tucumcari City Commission appointed to fill the term of recently retired District 3 Commissioner Ruth Ann Litchfield, said Friday he would step down after District 4 Commissioner Chris Arias filed a lawsuit to block the appointment because Bednorz doesn't live in the district.

Reached Friday afternoon by phone after the Quay County Sun received a copy of Arias' lawsuit, Bednorz said he would resign his appointment from the commission.

"I'm done, I'm done," he said. "I'm not going to fight it. I'm going to resign, and they can have it.

"I feel like I've done everything right. But if the people don't want me, they don't want me."

Bednorz said he had decided to step down "a day or two" earlier after talking to family members.

Bednorz was appointed last month by the city commission by a 3-1 vote after four candidates were interviewed. He was not sworn into office during that meeting, however.

Bednorz a day later told the Quay County Sun that he lived outside District 3, south of Interstate 40. Because he owned a house in District 3 and his voter registration states he lived there, he thought he still could legally represent the district.

Arias, who cast the only dissenting vote against Bednorz's appointment, on Friday afternoon filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in district court against the city of Tucumcari. A writ of mandamus is a court order to a government entity to properly fulfill its official duties or correct an abuse of discretion.

Tucumcari lawyer Kevin Sanders filed the writ on Arias' behalf.

The lawsuit states Bednorz erroneously stated his status as a "qualified elector" granted him eligibility to serve on District 3. Arias said Bednorz cited a law that had been repealed in 2021.

The lawsuit also cites an opinion from the New Mexico attorney general that states public officials must "all reside within the political subdivision for which they were elected or appointed."

Arias offered little comment about the lawsuit but provided a written statement.

"Let me be clear, I have known Mr. Bednorz for many years and consider him a friend," Arias stated. "I do not question his ability to serve as a Commissioner, but I do have issue with his claimed residency. ... I am taking this action to uphold my oath of office and ensure District 3 is duly represented."

It wasn't clear whether the city of Tucumcari had been served the lawsuit. The city commission's next scheduled meeting is Thursday.

Bednorz said he doubted he would move to District 3 and file for candidacy for the November election.

When asked whether he would move to District 3 and run for that office later this year, he responded: "At this time, no. As I've said, I want to do everything legal."

"I thank the City of Tucumcari for the opportunity," Bednorz added. "I'm sorry it didn't work out. No hard feelings; it is what it is."

Residency issues

Arias in his written statement also acknowledged he wasn't a resident of District 4 when he first was appointed to the city commission in 2018.

"I come to you today to set the record straight," Arias wrote. "It is true that I was renting a home outside of District 4 in late 2018. However, upon applying for my appointment and receiving it, I had moved back in and have remained in the district.

"In 2018 at the time of my appointment, residency was determined by voter registration, and as I maintained my registration in the District, I was not in violation of statute at the time. The statute under which I was appointed was repealed with the statute reading residency is based off where the candidate lives in 2021.

"Mr. Bednorz and others have cited a statue that is no longer in effect. It is my opinion that this circumstance is not subject to precedence under any previous statutes."

At his office Friday, Arias said: "I was not at that High Street address for very long before the appointment came up. After the appointment, I did enter back into the district and have since stayed there."

District 1 Commissioner and acting mayor Ralph Moya in a phone interview Saturday disputed the notion Arias could have legally been a commissioner in 2018, saying a federal judge in the 1980s ruled a city commissioner must reside within the district.

Multiple Tucumcari residents in recent years also have accused Moya of living outside of District 1, the city's north side.

According to Quay County Clerk records, Moya's voter registration since 1996 has listed a house on a short street at 724 E. Magnolia Ave. as his residence, though he said it goes back earlier than that when he once was registered as a Republican. Moya now is a Democrat.

The 1950s house at that address is owned by his sister, May Joanna Grace Moya, who lives in Clovis, according to county property records. She and Moya said she inherited it from her mother. City records show the house has water service.

Reached by phone last week, she said her brother resides in the house, but she would move back to Tucumcari and live there after she retires within a few years.

Moya said he was well aware some residents doubt he's a District 1 resident.

"Since 1980, when I first was on the commission, it's always been an issue," he said. "It's been brought up in court before. It's just a gossip situation."

Moya runs counseling offices in Tucumcari, Vaughn, Santa Rosa, Clayton, Fort Sumner and soon will open more in Clovis and Roswell. Despite his far-flung operations, Moya said he always comes back home.

"I can't (stay overnight elsewhere) because I have to care for my animals," he said. "I have six dogs - three at my sister's house next door and three at my house. I have four horses I have to feed. I have sheep. I have a cat. That's why you see me coming in in the middle of the night."