Alexis Fitts, Patch Staff

<b>Email</b> alexis.fitts&#64;patch.com<b><br>Phone </b>707-889-0796<b><br>Hometown </b>Philadelphia, PA<b><br>Birthday</b> I share with Shakespeare and Sandra Dee

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Alexis Fitts is the Local Editor for Sonoma Patch. Her stories have been featured in Mother Jones, Salon, Wired.com, and community newspapers in Connecticut, Colorado, and all around the Bay Area. She holds degrees from the Royal Academy of Music and Yale University, where she reported for The New Haven Advocate and discovered the joys of writing on deadline. 

<b>Your Beliefs</b><br>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. <br><br><b>Politics  </b>— I&#39;m a registered Democrat, but I hold no ideals about party politics. I believe in social liberties and services, along with the fiscal realities required to maintain them. I find myself right on the age-old verge of being young enough for idealism, but old enough to know better. I&#39;m particularly excited to report on local politics, where broad party lines tend to break down in favor of personal ideology. <br><br><b>Religion</b> — I was raised Jewish and Quaker. I still feel very Jewish in my cultural identity and dietary needs, though I am not as strict as I once was. My value system is based deeply in the Quaker belief that the way you treat and respect your fellow man means more than the particulars of what religion you subscribe to. And I believe deeply in bagels. <br><b><br>Local Hot-Button Issues</b> — Sonoma faces an issue common to towns of a similar size ... how to maintain the sense of community and small-town feel that draws tourists, while finding space for the economic growth that brings jobs and industry. This is a doozy, coming off a particularly rough 2008-09.

Sonoma&#39;s schools are at the heart of the community and they are in the midst of a transformation in the coming school year. New administrators and a $40 million school bond passed by voters means change is coming. The folks at Sonoma Patch are going to follow school issues all year long.

Water is a constant issue due to Sonoma being an agricultural community. Sonoma has struggled to find a solution to the water shortages that come from being the last stop on a limited pipeline. 

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