House Dist. 46 candidate Henry P. Roybal visited the Los Alamos Daily Post newspaper office recently to discuss his decision to run for a seat in the New Mexico House of Representatives. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com
By CAROL A. CLARK
Los Alamos Daily Post
caclark@ladailypost.com
Henry P. Roybal visited the Los Alamos Daily Post newspaper office recently to meet the news team and talk about his candidacy for a seat in the New Mexico House of Representatives.
Roybal has worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory since 2001 in the Engineering Services and Utilities and Infrastructure Division. Last week he began a new position at the Lab working in contract management.
He is running for the Dist. 46 House seat, which covers the southern part of Espanola, Chimayó, Pojoaque and the northern part of Santa Fe. He has represented this same district for nearly eight years in his role as a Santa Fe County Commissioner. His second 4-year term on the commission ends Dec. 31, and he cannot run for reelection because of term limits.
Roybal is now running in the June 7 Primary Election in the heavily Democratic district against fellow Democrats Andrea Romero, who has served in the seat since 2019, and fellow Lab employee Ryan Salazar.
He spoke about the importance of working together not only with the constituents in his district but also the civic leaders in nearby communities including Los Alamos.
“During my years as a Santa Fe County Commissioner, I have worked hard to establish relationships and collaborate with elected officials from surrounding city and county local governments as well as the Pueblos,” Roybal said. “I look forward to continuing to work with them as a state representative.”
Roybal explained why he would like to continue his work at the state level.
“I want to ensure we properly invest in our children’s education, diversify our economy so that good paying jobs are available, promote healthy communities, invest in broadband infrastructure and make our communities safe by addressing drug addiction and mental illness,” he said.
Roybal is a graduate of Pojoaque Valley High School and holds a degree in electromechanical engineering design from Northern New Mexico College. He has been employed at Los Alamos National Laboratory for 21 years.
He was born in 1969 in Orange County, Calif, where his father was stationed while serving in the U.S. Army.
“My father served in the Army in 1967 and 1968 in a heavy artillery unit in Viet Nam,” Roybal said. “After he returned to us in California my family became homesick, and we moved back to the Pojoaque Valley in 1973 … where my ancestors have lived for 13 generations.”
“Being the oldest of four boys I’ve always looked after them and protected them,” he said of his siblings.
Roybal began his first job when he was 21 years old as a draftsman for Santa Fe County. He worked there for four years, then spent another four years at Santa Fe Abstract as a real estate title examiner before beginning his career at LANL.
“What drew me to public service began years ago when I was inspired by Mercy Quintana – she was the Santa Fe County Assessor and a great leader and a great example of a public servant,” Roybal said. “I began coaching and over the years became president of the Pojoaque Valley Little League, director of the Young American Football League, athletic coordinator of the Pojoaque Intermediate School and head coach of the Pojoaque Junior High School Football Team and he assisted with varsity football.
During this time Roybal became good friends with fellow coach Joseph Talachy.
“I mentioned to Joseph one day that I was thinking about running for County Commissioner, and he said, ‘That’s funny I was thinking of running for governor of the Pojoaque Pueblo … ‘let’s go do great things!’ Joseph and I went on to have a great collaboration … it was fate how that happened.”
He said that it is hard to believe he has been engaged in working for the community for 22 years.
“It really is true that time flies when you’re having fun,” Roybal said. “People put me in office to represent them, which is why I freely give out my cell phone number. I want them to be able to get a hold of me.”
Roybal spoke about what drives him to continue his public service.
“To me the reward is being able to help people get the services they need,” he said. “I look at myself as the people’s voice … If I can’t help them – I will take the time to find who can.”
While serving on the Santa Fe County Commission, Roybal was elected twice to serve as the Santa Fe County representative on the Executive Board of the New Mexico Association of Counties. While in that capacity, the Board of County Commissioners unanimously elected him to serve three years as chair and three years as vice chair.
He is the lead elected official on the Northern New Mexico Workforce Development Board. Roybal also has served on the Santa Fe Metropolitan Planning Organization, Buckman Direct Diversion Board, Solid Waste Management Agency and the Santa Fe County Investment Committee.
Roybal lives in El Rancho north of Santa Fe. He and his wife Marlene have four children including two daughters and two sons ranging in age from 28 to 4 years old.
