Boyd Herrington, 84, came to the village of Encino a decade ago looking for someplace quiet where he could take it easy. That was not the case.
Herrington has served as mayor of the tiny community for six years, and he told the New Mexico Sun he might seek a third term. But in his mid-80s, he isn’t making any promises.
“I'm still thinking seriously on it, but they're not looking too good,” Herrington said.
He became mayor without intending to do so.
“Really, I didn’t run for mayor. I ran for city council,” Herrington said. “Just before the Election Day, the mayor we had passed away and it wasn’t time to get [the office] on the ballot. The next meeting, we had to appoint a mayor, and I got to be mayor.”
It’s a small town in Torrance County in eastern New Mexico. There isn’t a lot of political intrigue. Herrington said there are 65 people in town. In 2019 the U.S. Census Bureau reported the number was 74 people.
The village’s history dates to the 19th Century, when a fort was at the location, providing a place for travelers to stop or stay. People still pass through, as U.S. Highway 60, U.S. Highway 285 and state Road 3 cut through the village.
Encino — Spanish for oak — was founded around 1904, when a U.S. post office, now closed, was started. Local ranchers helped fuel the economy.
Churches, schools and a newspaper opened, and the town grew in the early part of the 20th Century. Encino boasted among its citizenry the eighth governor of New Mexico, R.C. Dillon, who was elected in 1927. Dillon, a Republican, served a pair of two-year terms, and often brought friends and colleagues to his Encino home. He died in 1966 at 88.
But in 1965 the railroad depot closed. The high school followed in 1982 and businesses faded away as well.
The business community today is modest, Herrington said. There is the El Cabo wind farm, other smaller wind farms, the Torrance quarry, a used car lot that also offers equipment and other items, and nine or 10 small RV lots, according to Encino deputy clerk Aryka Garcia.
The El Cabo wind farm is a 298-megawatt project, making it the largest wind-producing facility in the state. It’s based on 60,000 acres and produces enough power to fuel 90,000 homes.
As wind installation developers have looked to expand in New Mexico, Herrington has been a prominent proponent.
“We’re going to need something to replace gas and this will help with that,” he told the Edgewood News in a 2019 interview. “Gas will only last so long … but I’m kind of worried about them putting in this many because [soon] they’ll be obsolete.”
Herrington, originally from Texas, came to Encino a decade ago after retiring from the Greyhound Corporation, where he had worked as a quality technician.
“When I retired from work down there in Roswell, I started looking for a place there wasn’t nothing to do,” he said. “They said there wasn’t nothing doing in Encino, but now I’m holding down a job pretty well.”
His wife passed away, and he currently lives with his son, Robert.
Herrington said there is one major goal he would like to accomplish.
“First thing I'd like to see a public sewer system,” he said. “We have individual systems.”
The cost isn’t prohibitive, Herrington said.
“I’m figuring maybe $50,000,” he said. “We’re trying to raise some government funding. I imagine we’ll put in some local. You always do on that.”
Herrington said the people who live in Encino like the slow, easy pace.
“It's nice and quiet place to live,” he said. “You don't have the roar of the motors and stuff going down the street.”