Before the Title: A Personal Reflection on Ray Merriman and Jill Wilkins

There has been public conversation about whether Ray Merriman and Jill Wilkins have enough political experience for the offices they are seeking. Jill is running for Town of Wallkill Supervisor, and Ray is running for Town Councilman in Ward Two.

Questions about a candidate’s qualifications are fair. Every person asking to serve the public should be prepared to learn, listen, and understand the responsibilities of the position. But experience does not come in only one form, and leadership does not always begin behind a government desk.

Every elected official had a first campaign, a first day in office, and a moment when someone had to believe that the life they had already lived prepared them to take their service further.

Ray and Jill may be new to holding political office, but neither of them are new to serving people.

Ray Merriman is a United States Navy veteran. Long before his name appeared on a campaign sign, he made a commitment to serve this country. Military service requires discipline, responsibility, teamwork, adaptability, and the ability to remain focused when the pressure is high. Those are not small qualities, and they do not disappear when a person takes off the uniform.

Ray is also a husband, a father, and a former foster parent. I know that personally because Ray and I opened our home and served as foster parents together. I have seen how he shows up for his family and for people who need support.

Ray may not always be a man of many words, but his life has never been defined by how loudly he speaks. It has been defined by what he does. He listens, learns quickly, accepts responsibility, and works until the job is finished. Much of what he has done for others was never photographed, announced, or placed online. He simply did what he believed was right.

Jill Wilkins has also built a life around service. She is a wife, a mother, a businesswoman, a woman of faith, and someone who has cared for children beyond those to whom she gave birth. I know about her work with children she has open her home to.

I also know of Jill’s work serving seniors and helping people in need. Her care for others did not begin with her campaign. It comes from her faith and from a personal belief that when people are struggling, someone should be willing to see them, hear them, and help them.

That kind of service is often quiet. There may be no cameras, public recognition, or applause. But what people do when nobody is watching can reveal more about their character than any speech ever could.

That is what stands out to me about Ray and Jill.

Throughout their campaigns, they have been knocking on doors, meeting residents, listening to concerns, and connecting directly with the people they are seeking to represent. Their focus has not been on tearing others down. It has been on introducing themselves, discussing what they hope to contribute, and learning more about the community.

The Town of Wallkill is home to people of different races, religions, cultures, political affiliations, family structures, and life experiences. Those differences do not have to divide us. We should not have to wait for a tragedy to remember that we are neighbors and that we share the same roads, schools, businesses, parks, concerns, and hopes for the future.

Representation allows more residents to recognize that public service is open to them, too. Diversity is not about excluding anyone or declaring that one group matters more than another. It is about creating room for more voices, more experiences, and more people to participate in the future of their community.

Political labels can sometimes prevent us from hearing one another. Republican, Democrat, Conservative, liberal, or independent those words may describe political beliefs, but they do not tell us everything about a person’s heart, character, or commitment to others.

Ray and Jill are not perfect, and no candidate should be presented as if they are. They will have things to learn, as every person entering a new position does. The important questions are whether someone is willing to learn, willing to listen, willing to work, and willing to remain accountable to the people.

I am sharing what I have personally witnessed because voters deserve to know more than a label or a criticism. They deserve to know about the lives candidates lived before asking for a title. They deserve to know how those individuals treated people before there was an election, an audience, or a reason to seek public attention.

This is not written to attack anyone else running for office or to suggest that other candidates are bad people. It is simply an honest reflection on two people whose service began long before their campaigns.

Every voter should ask questions, study the responsibilities of each office, examine every candidate’s plans, and make an informed decision. But as that decision is being made, Ray Merriman and Jill Wilkins deserve to have their complete stories considered not only whether they have previously held political office, but how they have already lived, served, sacrificed, and shown up for others.

Sometimes leadership begins with a title.

Other times, the title simply gives a name to the work someone has quietly been doing all along.