Email: shawn@patch.com
Phone: 864.322.3197 Hometown: Jermyn, Pennsylvania Birthday: February 8 At Patch, we promise always to report the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adhere to the principles of good journalism. However, we also acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible because human beings have beliefs. So in the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal their beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable. This disclosure is not a license for you to inject your beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that your beliefs are on the record will cause you to be ever mindful to write, report and edit in a fair, balanced way. And if you ever see evidence that we failed in this mission, please let us know. Politics  How would you describe your political beliefs? I mostly vote Democratic but I have voted Republican and for third-party candidates. I voted for Barack Obama in 2008. When forming an opinion on an issue I try to think of how it will impact the average working person since that is what most of us are. Religion How religious would you consider yourself? I was raised Catholic, but I haven't attended church regularly since I was in high school. I consider myself non-religious. However, I do respect the importance that church and church attendance has on many people's lives. Hot-Button Issues It's undeniable that Gov. Nikki Haley is as divisive a figure that South Carolina has seen. But, I think the governor is still relatively unknown and she's been broadsided more than a few times by the media. Whether or not she brought that on herself, that's another issue. What's also undeniable is that Gov. Haley is a great saleswoman for the state of South Carolina and has brought much-needed jobs to the state. Where do you stand on the issues facing South Carolina? It's hard to speak generally about the whole state because different parts of it have different needs. But, I would say a couple of things that could apply to much of the state. First, the performance of the public school system is behind the rest of the country, and our country is behind other industrialized nations, so it's a serious deficiency. Opinions about the causes of that deficiency vary. I don't think there's any one reason for the situation other than it's never been made a priority. The other major issue is, of course, the economy. I do think the economic woes are related to the shortfalls in education. Good jobs come to areas where there are skilled workers. Skilled workers in 1982 are very different from skilled workers in 2012, and there seems to be a consensus that a better job needs to be done at preparing workers for the demands of the global, knowledge-based economy.