this is a Q & A from BallotPedia from Merissa.
Q.  What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

A.  With a strong commitment to helping her community, her work for over a decade has focused on helping girls in crisis pregnancies, women and their children in domestic violence, and helping those experiencing homelessness find permanency. Merissa is running for Mayor to bring smarter solutions to Phoenix.

Q.  What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The Berlin Wall falling. I was only 7 years old but I remember learning about it in class. My teacher’s son was there for the fall of the wall and he brought back pieces of it for our class. It created an awareness in me how government can get out of control and really hurt people terribly no matter the original intentions.

Q What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Working for my dad’s cleaning company. I would sweep the floor of the malls in my hometown. I also paid for ballet lessons by cleaning the ballet studio on the weekends.