David Ertischek, Patch Staff

David got his start as a reporter for the Wellesley Townsman in 2003 after being a preschool teacher for a year in Newtonville. From the Townsman, David went on to write for community newspapers in Needham, Newton, Cambridge, Watertown and more. Getting away from the suburbs, David was a reporter, then assistant editor/sports editor for the West Roxbury and Roslindale Transcripts. After a one-year stint as an editor for a local Watertown paper, he made his way back to the Transcripts, where he became the editor for about a year, but left in 2010 to launch West Roxbury Patch.   

He graduated from Emerson College with a degree in creative writing and he is indeed a creative writer having won first place in 2008's New England Press Association award for Humor Columnist. He has also won awards for spot news, headline writing and coverage of a racial or ethnic issue.

My Beliefs

I believe that journalists should be helpful to the community they serve by letting people know about fundraisers, crime trends and most importantly happy stories. I don't think journalism should be sensational to the detriment of society. The more bad news we see the more we accept things like crime, violence and bad attitudes. Politics

I vote for the candidate who I think will best serve the community. I am currently a registered Democrat in Massachusetts. I wish that we really had more than a two-party system. I think that it is unfair that other political parties get locked out of national and regional elections after not meeting minimum voting tallies from the previous election cycle.  I say, put 'em all on the ballot and let the voters decide!

Religion

I was raised Jewish, but I take bits and pieces from different religions and philosophies. But I wouldn't say I'm a practicing Jew. I believe in God. I wouldn't say I'm religious, but that I'm spiritual. I think it's important to respect other people's beliefs. We may not always agree, but hopefully we can do it respectfully. 

Local Hot-Button Issue

I hope that my answer to this paragraph changes as soon as possible. I find the biggest issue in West Roxbury to be the Boston Public School system. About 35 percent of West Roxbury students do not get into their local neighborhood schools. This forces parents to pay for private or parochial schools, or even move out of West Roxbury to a suburb because they don't want to put their kid on a bus to go to a subpar school across the city.  But this issue won't change until we improve the schools around the city so people want their children to attend their local neighborhood schools.