Email: Shannon.burkey@patch.com  Phone: 831-578-7565 Follow us: on Twitter and Facebook Hometown: Corpus Christi, Texas Birthday: Nov. 14 Shannon Burkey is the local editor of Scotts Valley Patch. She comes to Patch from the world of community journalism where she was an editor for Silicon Valley Community Newsgroup, covering the town of Los Gatos and the city of Saratoga. Her work has appeared in the Oakland Tribune, Tri-Valley Herald, San Jose Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times. She is also the recipient of two Peninsula Press Club awards. She earned her degree in journalism from San Francisco State University and has happily been pursuing her passion for all things news since graduating. In her spare time, she loves to explore the wine regions of the Santa Cruz Mountains, play at the beaches of Santa Cruz and Capitola, root for the Dallas Cowboys and train for the occasional triathlon. Your Beliefs 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'm a registered Democrat but I respect a wide range of political stances.   Religion   How religious would you consider yourself? (casual, observant, devout, non religious)  I was raised Southern Baptist but haven't been to church in a very long time. I still try and live my life by the values that were instilled in me in the church though. Local Hot-Button Issues School budget cuts and how they are impacting the classroom is a big issue. Many parent groups and local organizations have taken to raising money themselves to try and bridge the deficit. City budget cuts are also a big topic as positions in the city offices and police departments are being cut or frozen.