Aztec’s new mayor, 37‑year‑old Brett Lanier, brings a youthful, optimistic outlook to City Hall after commissioners unanimously selected him to fill the seat vacated by longtime Mayor Mike Padilla.
Lanier, a lifelong Aztec resident and former coal-mine supervisor, said he is “humbly honored” by the vote and hopes to channel his deep ties to the community into steady leadership.
Motivated by family, mentorship from Padilla and a desire to move from “the sideline” into public service, Lanier has outlined three immediate priorities: hiring a strong city manager, opening the long-delayed arterial road to demonstrate the city’s reliability to state funders, and stabilizing operations by filling key vacancies such as the Public Works director.
With a young family and a self‑described commitment to independent research over television, Lanier says he’s focused on guiding Aztec’s projects and preserving the spirit that makes his hometown “unique and amazing.”
Lanier said a family reunion about three years ago was the motivator. His second cousin once-removed, Steve Lanier, a recent San Juan County commissioner and state senator, announced he was going to run for state senator.
Lanier said he no longer wanted to be on the “sideline saying stuff.”
“I want to be the one in the mix making the right and proper decisions,” he said.
Lanier reached out to Padilla and they had lunch. Padilla gave “pointers and tips.” Lanier began attended commission meetings, workshops and became a member of the Planning and Zoning Board.
After graduating from Aztec High School in 2007, Lanier worked in the oil and gas industry in scientific drilling, followed by what he called the “funnest” job he ever had as a coal miner, which he did for about 15 years.
“I operated the equipment that mined the coal, and then the last mine I was at, I was a long wall supervisor,” he said.
Lanier, who worked deep underground, said the last mine (San Juan Mine) he worked at was 1,000 deep and ran laterally for about 6 miles.
Advice from the old-timers he worked with was for him to get away from it if he ever had kids and to “make them a priority, and he took it as solid guidance.
Lanier didn’t want to miss “one single night with his kids,” he said.
Lanier and his wife Mariah have a daughter, Remedy, 2½ and a son, Bodhi, 1½, and one on the way.
“I do a lot of independent research. One thing about me, I do not own a TV, and I don’t ever plan to own a TV,” Lanier said. “I read a ton of books, and then I find my own news that I think is true and valuable.”
Currently, Lanier is general manager for Basin Disposal in Aztec.
Hiring a good city manager, opening the arterial and dialing in all the projects are the Lanier’s top priorities.
“I believe the city manager is the most important job in the city,” he said. “So that’s No. 1,” Lanier said.
Getting the arterial road opened up is imperative, he said.
“I want to see it opened up because we need to look good for Santa Fe because it was a big project,” he said. “And we need to look good to get future funding for other things and show that we can handle that workload.”
His other priority is “dialing in all our projects and everything happening in the city, and part of that is filling in key positions.”
There is an opening for Public Works director, and Lanier stressed the importance of “smoothing things out” with the overall operation of the city, “getting the proper people in place and “getting on track with all our projects.”
“The one thing that I’ve always appreciated and loved about Aztec is it’s the people here that make this community unique,” the new mayor said. “And in the future, I see that same spirit living on … making Aztec unique and amazing.”