Email: roberto@patch.com
Phone: 781-315-3125
Hometown: Revere, Mass.
Birthday: June 22

Roberto graduated from Clark University with a degree in Philosophy. It wasn't until his senior year that a professor informed him that a philosophy degree was essentially an oath of poverty.

Terrified at the potential of living out his life as a kind of secular monk, he turned to his lifelong hobby and only marketable skill: Writing. With three journalism courses and a stint as senior editor of an unauthorized campus magazine under his belt, he decided to try his luck writing for his supper.

Over the last 10 years, he's done just that. Roberto has worked as a journalist in Wilmington, Billerica, Arlington and Waltham. He has also worked as an editor in both the medical publishing and legal education fields.

A quick glance at his mantle shows a 2003 NEPA award (as part of a team, but still, it totally counts). He is also a two-time Papa Gino's Pizza Olympian (once for overall excellence, once for pizza spinning), and is part of the pub trivia juggernaut Glengarry Diana Ross.

He does not usually write about himself in the third person, and finds it awkward.

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
I'm a registered Democrat and have been for years. Before that, I was officially unenrolled. In general, I vote tactically in primaries and go with my gut in November. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool liberal but enjoy good, dispassionate debate with conservatives. I don't like people on either side who can't see beyond their own talking points.

My presidential votes, starting in 1996: Clinton, Nader, Kerry, Obama. Presidential primary votes, starting in 2000: McCain, Kerry, Obama. My Gubernatorial votes, starting in 1998: Harshbarger, Stein, Patrick. Gubernatorial primaries, starting in 1998: Harshbarger, Reich, Patrick, Patrick. (It's best to read this paragraph listening to Tom Petty's "Even the Losers.")

Religion
I'm agnostic, but take a firm "I'm OK, you're OK" stance towards religion and atheism. Good luck with your own credo. Life's too short to worry about what other people believe.

That said, I think some of the most innovative and compassionate forces in our cities and towns come from religious organizations. And anyone who helps out the poor and gives people hope is OK in my book.

Local Hot-Button Issues

To borrow a well-worn line, it's the economy, stupid. Malden, like most cities and towns, is struggling to make things meet in the sluggish aftermath of a deep recession. Remember, the local receipts that help pay for everything in a municipality are lagging indicators, so even as the economy rebounds, Malden is going to face some very tough decisions over the next few years. Of course, that puts the city in good company with its residents, who also are working hard to make ends meet.

The controversy surrounding the proposed Roosevelt Park improvements, and the legal agreement with Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, is the latest hot spot in the sometimes uncomfortable relationship between the charter school and city. The friction is a localized version of the same fight communities all over the state are having with the public-but-different nature of charter schools. Fortunately, all of Malden's schools, and particularly its high schools, have been able to keep the political wrangling away from the kids, who consistently do well in national rankings.

And like it or not, Pay As You Throw is still a driving force in Malden's political scene. It's difficult to tell why this particular issue resonates more than others, but I think it's because trash collection has always been considered a fundamental service of government. Instituting PAYT sort of feels like the rug's been pulled out from underneath you. But the counter-argument, that the city has to find ways to reduce the cost of trash collection and increase the rate of recycling, is a persuasive one. Interestingly, Revere is trying a different model, tying incentives like gift cards to home recycling rates instead of using a fee for trash bags. Both models deserve more time to see which works better.