Zanea Carpenter retires; City of Muleshoe hires new secretary

Muleshoe Journal
Gail M. Williams 
December 5, 2023

Muleshoe City Secretary Zanea Carpenter has announced her retirement, according to City Manager Ramon Sanchez.

“Miss Carpenter will be retiring at the end of the year on Dec. 29,” Sanchez said. “Tamara Cain has been hired as the new secretary and is now training for the position.”

Carpenter started working for the city as utility billing clerk and served as deputy city secretary from 2008 to 2016. She has been City Secretary from 2016 to the present – a total of almost 20 years working for the City of Muleshoe.

After retirement, Carpenter’s focus will be on her family.

“I’m going to take care of my grandbabies,” she said. “A new grandbaby was born in October, and I’m going to take care of her as well as do odds and ends for my mom and my mother-in-law.”

Eventually, Carpenter hopes to be able to work on her hobbies and do some traveling along with her husband Jeff Carpenter, who retired from Muleshoe ISD.

“The City Secretary plays a major role with the city of Muleshoe,” Sanchez said. “That person oversees elections, takes care of Human Resources for the City of Muleshoe and is responsible for the City Council agenda.”

A lifelong resident of Muleshoe, Cain is proud to call Muleshoe home. She is married to Randy Cain and has two children, Terrah and Ryan.

Cain graduated from Muleshoe High School, as has her oldest child. Her younger child is still in school.

“For most of my life, my background has been in accounting and bookkeeping, working within the eastern New Mexico and West Texas area,” Cain said.

Cain will officially take over as City Secretary on Jan. 2, 2024.

“Training has been going very well, probably because I’ve got the best trainer in the entire world,” Cain said. “With the things Zanea is teaching me, I’m confident that there will not be many missing pieces of the puzzle, so I can pick up where she’s left off.”

“On behalf of city of Muleshoe, I’d like to thank Zanea Carpenter for her many years of service to the citizens of Muleshoe,” Sanchez said.

A retirement party and reception for Carpenter will be from 2-4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21, at the Muleshoe Training Center.