This letter is written regarding our endorsement of David Stollwerk and Keith DiMarco as school board trustees in the upcoming election.

We have been attending board meetings for approximately 15 years during which time many board members of varying quality have come and gone. In our estimation, Keith DiMarco has been one of our best trustees over the years, with no political affiliations or personal agendas, and owing no one. As a board trustee and former vice president of the board, Keith always displayed a keen awareness of the issues at hand, and handled himself in a most appropriate, intelligent, and fiscally responsible manner. We were sorry that he did not choose to run for another term two years ago but are now most pleased that he is seeking re-election to the board.

David Stollwerk, who also has no political affiliations, is certainly aware of everything that has transpired in our district, having served Herricks as an educator for 31 years. For the last three years, he has demonstrated his ability, desire, and commitment by serving us on the Herricks Board of Education. His devotion to our students, and vice versa, is evident.

In these troubled financial times, Herricks would be served well to elect candidates such as David and Keith who have demonstrated that their way of solving a problem is not to "throw money at it." It is troubling to us that the other candidates seem to want to "give away the store," but at what expense? We are in favor of giving everything possible to the students, but we frankly cannot afford to be taxed out of our home of 22 years. For example, although there are some who do not feel that renting the Administration Building to an outside tenant would be good for our district, we are grateful that the current board has attempted to be creative and to generate new areas of revenue. We believe that David and Keith will continue to be creative in attempting to serve the residents of Herricks in a fiscally responsible manner.

We hope that you will give your vote to David Stollwerk and Keith DiMarco on June 3 so that they can continue their proven record of being fiscally responsible, improving educational opportunities, and maintaining their devotion to all the residents of this district.

Andy and Sandi Taraska