TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
In one of his final acts as Merrill’s Mayor at the April 19, 2022, Special Council Meeting, Derek Woellner called for public comments at the beginning of the meeting (members of the public are allowed to make comments of up to five minutes at each Council meeting), and a young speaker boldly stepped up to the podium, to the surprise of everyone but her father.
Raya Osness, age 8, a second grader at Kate Goodrich Elementary School in Merrill, had a question, and her father, Steve Osness, who had been a City Alderman but did not run for re-election to the position, didn’t have an answer for her.
When Raya approached the podium with a small note in her hand, Steve stepped up to meet her at the podium and held the microphone and the note for her so she could read her question aloud. Raya asked: “If you can pay for everything else, why can’t you pay for yellow lines on every street? Thank you.”
Amid chuckles from a nearly-full room, Raya skipped back to her seat.
“We’ll have to bring that one to the Board of Public Works,” Woellner said.
Raya’s dad, Steve, shared the background. “Raya and the family and I were driving into town on Pier St., we made a turn onto our road, and Raya turned to me and said, ‘Dad if the City pays for everything else, why can’t they paint yellow lines on all the roads?’”
“The question caught me off guard and I had to think quick!” he said. “However, I had no answer for her. I didn’t know what to say. So she asked again.”
“Knowing how tenacious she is and won’t quit asking until she receives an answer, I proceed to tell her she needs to contact her alderman!” Steve said.
“DAD! I don’t have a phone and aren’t you my alderman?” she responded to him.
“I said I would not be after my next meeting, as I have resigned that position,” Steve said. “So, to make her feel better and trying to get off the hook to a question I didn’t have the answer for, I said, ‘Why don’t I take you to the next meeting and you can make public comment and ask your question.’ I figured she would say no and that would be the end of it. I told her they can’t answer your question at the meeting, but maybe someone will reach out to you after the meeting and give you an answer. Raya said, ‘Yes that would be great, when is the meeting?’”
Steve said he I explained it would be on Tuesday.
“Monday night rolls around and she and her sister, Payge, start a hand written note that Raya could read for public comment,” he said.
Tuesday arrives and I’m thinking she will still back out, Steve said. Then he hears the Mayor ask for public comment and she catches his eye from the audience, gets up, and makes her way to the podium. So Steve followed her lead.
“She did a great job and hopefully she gets her answers she is looking for,” Steve said.