After six terms and a lifetime of public service, Mike Padilla says he knew it was time. On Thursday, June 25, the longtime Aztec mayor resigned, citing his doctors’ advice to keep his stress down as he continues recovering from a major cancer surgery.
Padilla’s departure marks a turning point for Aztec, where he has been a defining presence in city leadership since the 1990s. He says he hopes the commission will carry forward the projects closest to him, even as new leaders step in. The commission must now appoint a qualified resident to fill the vacancy until voters choose someone in the next local election.
Padilla served as mayor from 1993 to 1997 and from 2022 to the present.
“Now’s the time, you know, let the new blood come in. I’ve done everything that I felt comfortable in doing,” Padilla said in a phone conversation on Friday. “I mean, it’s no one reason … just been in my mind.”
He said helping the new people and the new city manager was “kind of my goal, but the timing was right.”
Padilla, who went through major surgery for cancer in February, said his doctors advised him to keep his stress level down.
“I served my country, and I served my city. I care about the city of Aztec,” he said, adding, “I’ve accomplished a lot of things for the city of Aztec in the time I’ve been in this position.”
Padilla said he was always guided by doing projects that would benefit the whole community, not just one constituency.
He’s hopeful the commission will complete a couple of projects, including phase 3 of the arterial and also the Aztec-Bloomfield water line, both of which were dear to him.
“His resignation certainly surprised a lot of us,” City Manager Jay Ruybalid said via email.
The commission, comprised of Mayor pro tem, Jason Cortez, Katie Buchholz, Brett Lanier and Austin Randall, will seek someone to fill in for Padilla, who had another year and a half to serve.
New Mexico statute, summarized by law.justia.com, says, “If a vacancy occurs in the commission, the remaining elected and appointed commissioners shall, by a majority vote, appoint a qualified elector to fill the vacancy until the next regular local election, at which time a qualified elector shall be elected to fill the remaining unexpired term, if any.”
Commission meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. at the Aztec City Hall, 201 W. Chaco St. Meeting agendas and packets are published on the Aztec City Commission website.