Geoffrey Walter, Patch Staff

A graduate of Chaminade High School (2001) and Fordham University (2005), Geoffrey first obtained a job working as a freelance reporter at the classic editions of the Williston Times and the New Hyde Park Herald-Courier as well as a syndicated writer for The Garden City News.  He spent the next five years covering school boards, village meetings, as well as politics on the local, Town, County and State levels.

Between 2006 and 2008, Geoffrey spent time as a sports writer and columnist for SNY.tv, a division of Major League Baseball's online site MLB.com.  He covered minor-League games for Brooklyn, Staten Island as well as college level games for C.W. Post and Hofstra University.  During his time at SNY, Geoffrey also developed an ongoing sports cartoon feature which he continues to create on his own personal website.  Geoffrey's writings have also appeared in the New York Daily News, and The Long Island Catholic.

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.

Religion

Do you consider yourself religious: yes

Do you identify with a certain religion: Catholic

Politics

How would you describe your political beliefs?  Independent, yet fiscally and morally conservative.

Local Hot Button Issues

What do you think are the most important issues facing the community?  Besides being the County seat and always the focal point for politics across Nassau County, the biggest issues are the reconfiguring of the Mineola School District as well as the proposed "smart growth" initiatives in the downtown area along Old County Road and Mineola Boulevard and now Willis Avenue, not to mention the relationships the village has with the surrounding communities because of these initiatives.

Where do you stand on each of these issues?  The recent history of closing and reopening the Mineola schools has become almost cyclical.  The Board of Education has decided to close three schools, thus creating what residents are calling a "North-South divide" and doing away with the neighborhood school feeling people seem to want to maintain, yet no longer wish to pay the high property taxes in order to do so.