About Me
My name is Keith Hillock. My wife and I live in Breadsprings, NM and we are proud to bring classical education to an area we thought could use a change from what has been offered to the community. In my several years of serving the community, I have observed things getting worse in many areas and I am the person who can tackle those issues head on. I don’t sugar coat the issues. Please look at where we stand as a community.
https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/new-mexico/mckinley-county
I was that kid whose parents where alcoholics and on drugs. I was the little boy who didn’t know if I was going to sleep at an aunt or uncle’s house or at a friend from school’s house or even at a home sponsored by Catholic Charities. I spent many holidays and birthdays in those drug rehabs or mental health institutions. I remember the days when I was homeless, I remember the days as a single father, and I had to raise two little girls on my own. I know the feeling of having a hungry child and no food. I know the feeling of trying to decide whether to put $2 in the car for gas or feed yourself knowing you will need a ride to work the next day. I know what it will take to give people hope and change people’s lives and by doing so clean up these streets and I am happy to share my visions throughout this campaign.
As Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Lt Governor Howie Morales said at the Governor’s breakfast, “It starts in the home”. They understand also. I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with them with your help to get what State Senate District 4 needs.
Why I am Campaigning
01.
— Crime
I ask myself how Gallup, the most beautiful, patriotic, little city in America can be number 1 in Crime.
https://www.southwestjournal.com/us/new-mexico/most-dangerous-cities-in-new-mexico/
That’s right! Gallup is the most dangerous place to live in NM. That needs to stop today!
The first thing any business developer, doctor, nurse, teacher, or family looks at before investing time or money into an area is crime. The safety of their family is the first thing they will consider, and the second thing is the educational system before they want to build a factory or new hospital or expand an airport. If the community wants to grow and be prosperous for our children and grandchildren, we must take this head on as a community. We have some of the finest law enforcement in the state, but they are overworked and underpaid and underappreciated. It is out of their hands. They can only do so much. We need stricter local ordinances and state laws. We need more correctional facilities, a true mental health hospital with rehabilitation centers, training centers for those seeking treatment, and more counseling centers, etc… Our community institutions are understaffed and underfunded in every possible area. It is my plan to bring positive change. I will get politicians, chapter house leaders, DAs, judges, county and city managers, health experts, counseling experts as well as church leaders and organizational leaders to come together in the same room and have a forum to tackle this head on. We need to communicate between every organization and department, and that is not happening. Every major disaster happens due to the failure to communicate. We see it all the time. I worked in the nuclear industry and oil and gas industry as an inspector and leader for a long time, and we use words like Safety Significant Systems and Critical Path. Critical Path means we don’t have much time to get a Safety Significant System back into safe operation before we have a significant discharge of radiation. It can decimate a community. All of our leaders may work very hard and do a great job at whabut it will take more than what they are elected for. It will take someone who has been to the top of that mountain as Martin Luther King jr has said. “It takes an entire community to raise a child” as Hillary Clinton has said and most importantly it will take YOU “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country” as President John F. Kennedy said. Our community is at a critical point, and we will need a leader to prevent a meltdown. I am that leader who has what it takes to turn things around. For some of you I understand you feel it is too late because you lost a loved one or you yourself feel there is no hope, or you can’t afford to feed your kids or pay for gas just to go to work. Believe me I have been where you are at. Let me tell you “It will get better” I promise you that!
02.
— Income inequality
It has hit an all-time high with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. McKinley County and surrounding area’s median household income hovers around $40,000 a year and on the Navajo reservation it is even lower, while Inflation and interest rates are at an all-time high. The poor feel the pinch more than anyone. As a proud member of the Electrical Union IBEW International Association of Electrical Workers and former union member of the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace workers I have seen first-hand the good they bring to families and the community. Quality high paying jobs need to be brought to McKinely County and surrounding areas.
I firmly believe skilled trade education needs to start at the freshman level in high school and they should have those hours of classroom and in the field training count towards a state apprentice license. The present law cripples the youth’s growth and economic value to where they can’t get a job in their field of choice until they are 18 and have their work hours count towards a license.
The Navajo Nation is making great progress in these steps, but we must expand it and have the work for them when they graduate.
Here is some DATA comparing Cibola County to Mckinely County. What stands out is the average Median household income in Mckinely County is the equivalent of two people working all year round busting their butt for minimum wage to make $40,000 for the entire family and have nothing left to show for it when the average home cost in Gallup, NM is nearly $200,000.
https://datausa.io/profile/geo/cibola-county-nm?compare=mckinley-county-nm
03.
— My Opponent:
Does my opponent, the current District 4 state senator George Munoz understand what it takes to get the community out of the critical path we are on? We are in this mess because of his lack of leadership skills. His 15 years of leadership has put this community in last place in just about every statistical category except for one statistic. Crime! We are number one in crime! Because of his leadership Gallup hasn’t grown close to one thousand people in his 15-year span as Senator. George Munoz cannot relate with his constituents at any level. Here is a link to his corporations. I encourage you to get to know your present district 4 state senator. Here are his 8 corporations:
https://www.munozproperties.org/
https://population.us/nm/gallup/
While George Munoz was busy running his 8 corporations, he found time to apply for a program designed to help YOU! The program is designed to help disadvantaged Native Americans or Hispanic owned businesses but don’t have a lot of money or are struggling. George Munoz, one of the richest and most powerful and influential people in town applied to take projects and money away from the true disadvantaged businesses that need the federal government’s help. Senator Munoz was disqualified because his PNW Personal Net Worth is over the 1.32-million-dollar threshold; and that doesn’t consider corporate holdings. It is called DBE enterprise. In the business world that is like applying for food stamps or SNAP while you make $300,000 a year in income.
https://www.transportation.gov/disadvantaged-business-enterprise/munoz-corporation
Personal Net Worth- Only disadvantaged persons having a personal net worth of less than $1.32 million can be considered as a potential qualified DBE. Items excluded from a person's net worth calculation include an individual's ownership interest in the applicant firm, and his or her equity in their primary residence.
Here are some statistics on the average household income. We have fallen behind on the trends. We are going backwards, and we are way behind the state average income and national average income.
https://censusreporter.org/profiles/25200US2430R-navajo-nation-reservation/
https://www.neilsberg.com/insights/gallup-nm-median-household-income-by-age/
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/median-household-income
You will get to decide in the primary whether we will continue down the same old path or are you ready to change directions and have your voice be heard. If so, vote for Keith Hillock for state senate, a true leader who understands the struggles we all share and someone who knows how to help you all achieve at every level. I’ve been to the highest mountain and the lowest valley, and I’ve overcome great obstacles, trials, and tribulation. We can have a great thriving prosperous community by communicating and working together. I am asking you to join that team. The team for change to move our community forward and not continue the downhill slide. The team that will give hope to all individuals and not just the rich like George Munoz who wants to take money from the poor and be called disadvantaged. The team that cares about your needs and will work endlessly to improve your needs and give people hope!
Please call me and help me beat them at the ballot box. I need your vote and then I need your voice to be heard.
04.
— Health
Mckinley County along with San Juan and Cibola County have been on the decline in health statistics and they continue to decline. That needs to stop today! We are ranked at the bottom of every meaningful category.
Here is another staggering fact. Mckinley County and surrounding areas have one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the United States and the lowest in New Mexico. That needs to stop today!
https://stacker.com/new-mexico/counties-shortest-life-expectancy-new-mexico