After winning by just 79 votes over two term incumbent Merrill Mayor William Bialecki, Mayor-elect Derek Woellner said he will stick to a campaign promise to change city tie breaking and veto policies.

“So the reason I want to yield my power of the tie breaker is to encourage people to come to the council meetings,” Woellner said. “There is a chance if there is a tie your vote will actually matter at the meeting.”

Woellner, a Merrill native and University of Wisconsin-Stout graduate, said the idea came to him after hearing from residents concerned their voice did not have power.

“So if you care about city politics, you should be there. Because you could very well be part of the process that passes the resolution or an ordinance,” Woellner said.

In the event of a tie, the plan would be for the majority of audience members to take a vote in place of the mayor. The idea would need city council approval.

“If only three people are at the council meeting, and they vote a certain way, and I’m still not sure if that’s the right tie breaker we should’ve had, I’ll go out and see what other people think,” Woellner said.

Meaning, the mayor-elect does not plan on using his veto power.

“If I don’t like what the people in attendance have voted…I’m requiring myself to get 50 signatures from people in the community,” Woellner said. "My plan is if I want to veto I should go out door to door and get at least 50 opinions.”

“If someone wants to make a comment based on the current discussion the council’s having - they raise their hand - it tells the council the person would like to make a motion to have the floor”

The 25-year-old Merrill Steel digital designer and Lincoln County Board member said he worried in the beginning his age would be a negative factor.

“But I actually think it turned out to be a positive. People see me and they think fresh ideas. A new direction,” Woellner said. “There was a lot of unhappiness with the direction the city was going. Complaints with the administration.”

As an example, Woeller points to big projects such as city leaders obtaining fairground’s land, as not actually meaning progress to the potential voters he talked to as he campaigned.

“Too much focus was on that sort of thing instead of bringing shows in and youthful things,” Woellner said. “So we can update the grandstands and the expo center. But unless we’re getting young people in those places I feel like that’s really benefiting them.”

That leads to Woellner’s plan for keeping a younger demographic in Merrill: an aggressive social media push.

“In Merrill we don’t have a gathering place where the community can meet up and discuss. But the people are on social media,” Woellner said. “Instead of getting the people to come to the city meetings and engage us. I think it’s really important that the city officials go out to where the people are. And they are on Facebook. And they are on Twitter. They’re there. We just aren’t engaging them.”

The young mayor plans on what he calls a unity platform to govern. Eight points, including fiscal responsibility while promoting green energy and startup businesses, based on combining Democrat, Green, Libertarian and Republican Party principles.

“So those eight goals we have, every policy decision that we make, every project we go on to tackle, I think those eight goals being a guiding light will create success,” Woellner said. “I would love to keep the older generations coming in. But I also think we need to shift a little focus on keeping the young population we have and attracting the young professionals.”

Woellner won by 79 votes-- 1,017 to William Bialecki's 938.

Outgoing Mayor Bialecki said it's been a pleasure serving the community in the office for the last eight years. Bialecki said he heard nothing but positive feedback from residents leading up to the election, and wouldn't change anything about his campaign for re-election or his time in office.

He said the weather during Tuesday's vote played a major role in the outcome.

"The snowstorm helped him out because a lot of my supporters thought I had it in the bag and didn't bother to come out in that mess," Bialecki said.

The mayor said his replacement is young, but will be working with an experienced city council.