I am writing to announce my candidacy for Grant County Probate Judge for the June 5 Primary Election on the Democrat ticket.
I was born on August 30, 1957 in Silver City, NM. I grew up in Santa Rita; at the age of 12, our family moved to Santa Clara and currently I live in Silver City.
I am married to Alfred Sedillo, manager at Sun-Valley True Value Hardware. My parents are Macario and Margaret Chavez of Santa Clara. I have three sons: Mack Trujillo, a pharmacist with SAM's Club of Mission Hills, California and his daughter Mackenzie, 16; Leo Trujillo, an Assistant Fire Management Officer with the US Forest Service, his wife Alexa and their three children, Brendan, 17, Amaya, 15, and Ahlyia, 13; and James Trujillo, an Environmental Technician with Freeport-McMoRan, his wife Krisann and their two children, Brayden, 10, and Marcus, 7.
I have been part of the official workforce for 40 years as January 9, 2018. I worked in the Grant County Clerk's office for eighteen years. While employed in the Clerk's office from 1978 through 1996 I served as County Clerk for four years and as a Probate Court Clerk for eighteen years. I then worked as the Executive Assistant to the Grant County Road Superintendent. I also worked as the Secretary to the Grant County Manager and County Commission. In total, I then completed my 28.6 years as a fully vested County employee, so I retired.
I returned to County Government when the County Commission appointed me County Clerk for approximately 6 months to run the General Elections in 2004. I ran for Grant County Commission District 1 in 2006 and became the first women ever elected to the Board of Grant County Commissioners. I served one term from 2007 through 2010. I have worked for Grant County Government and the citizens of Grant County for thirty-three years; I have only been an elected official for eight of those years.
After leaving County Government in 2010, I continued to work and help take care of my grandchildren and elderly friends. Currently I am employed at Carter Chiropractic Center where I work a total of two days a week.
My purpose in wanting to serve as Probate Judge is to continue to help people. I did work closely with the Probate Court for eighteen years from 1978 through 2006 and understand the duties and legal responsibilities of the office. This office needs a knowledgeable, professional, compassionate and caring person to execute their estates. I will work hard and diligently to make this process as smooth and organized as humanly possible. Every probate docket that I handle will be properly reviewed, documented and executed. I will make myself as available as necessary to the citizens; my office hours will be reflective of that.
A Probate Judge also performs Marriage Ceremonies. I will take the initiative to meet with the couple before the ceremony so that the union can be as personal and beautiful as possible. I will make myself available for these types of events, for they frequently do not happen during regular business hours.
I would like to work closely with local attorneys, local organizations and people who can help me organize workshops, meetings, or townhall meetings, in order to inform families how to prepare with the proper documents necessary for the end of life. This would help families handle loved ones' estates with accuracy, less stress, less problems, and promptly.
In announcing my candidacy, it is important that you know I like to work, that I have excellent work ethic and I enjoy helping people. I believe we were put on this earth to serve and this is what I want to do; I want to work for you the people of Grant County. I have hundreds of hours of training, numerous certificates of training, I am a graduate from the County College, which is an accreditation through New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Association of Counties, and I have 97 credit hours at WNMU. I am not running against any candidate, I am running on my qualifications and the knowledge I have pertaining to the Probate Judges duties. I leave you with a quote, "There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs."
I encourage anyone with questions or positive comments to call me at (575)313-4417 or email me at: maryann.sedillo@gmail.com
Sincerely and Respectfully,
Mary Ann C. Sedillo