BY TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
In advance of next week’s Spring Election on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, as a public service, we offered each of the candidates who will be on that ballot the opportunity to share a little information about themselves and their reasons for running for office.
Three of the nine positions on the Merrill Area Public Schools (MAPS) Board of Education (BOE) are up for election each year. Board members run for a three-year term of office. This year, three candidates (including one incumbent) will be running for three available positions on the BOE, so the race is essentially an uncontested one. Still, it is always helpful to know more about all candidates who will represent area constituents, even if those candidates run unopposed. As such, the responses to their questionnaires are also included here.
NOTE: Not all candidates responded. Those candidates that did respond have their responses to the questionnaire printed here. Candidates comments and reasons for running are their own personal opinions and not a factual article composed by this newspaper. No candidate or candidate’s statement has been endorsed by the Merrill Foto News. We hope this will help voters formulate their own opinions when making decisions about which candidate they will vote for.
MAPS Board of Education Vacancy #1: Brett Woller (incumbent) (NOTE: This is a CORRECTION. We had listed the wrong incumbent in our published edition. So sorry for the error.)
MAPS Board of Education Vacancy #2: Amber De Rizzo
Name: Amber De Rizzo
Age: 41
Family: Jason, and I have two children, Sebastian (14) and Alexandria (12).
Employment/position: Client Services Specialist at the Wisconsin State Public Defender
Past or present elected offices held, dates served: —
Membership in religious, service, fraternal, etc., clubs or organizations, and offices held, dates served: —
Why have you chosen to run for the office you seek: “I am looking forward to representing the members of our community while being able to provide a perspective of a parent with school-age kids. Having been a past MAPS employee, I hope to bring my experience and insight to this position while working to preserve and improve the quality of our school system, the fiscal health of the district, and community ties.”