Joni Hubred-Golden, Patch Staff

Email:  joni.hubred-golden@patch.com

Phone:  248-534-2425

Hometowns:  Hoffman, Minnesota and Farmington, Michigan

Birthday: September 1

I spent my childhood and most of my teen years living in small towns. That's also where I fell in love with journalism, as a reporter for the Kanabec County Times in Mora, Minnesota.

After spending a decade covering the communities of Lakeville and Farmington, Minnesota for the Lakeville Life & Times (gone, but not forgotten), I moved to Michigan to work for Observer & Eccentric Newspapers. Over the next five years, I won awards for breaking news coverage, editorials and columns, and filed countless stories about the people, places and events that make Farmington and Farmington Hills such a wonderful community.

In late October of 2003, I married the love of my life, Brian Golden, in a simple ceremony held in our neighbor's backyard. Almost a year later, I left journalism for the world of public relations, working at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield and Oakland University's Department of Music, Theatre and Dance. While this was a wonderful ride, Patch lured me back to community news with a wide-open, virtual canvas and the opportunity to get back to grassroots reporting.

In a way, I'm back where I started, living in the community where I work and loving the opportunity to work for my community.

My 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 consider myself a liberal Democrat, although I vote for people more than political parties. I prefer to learn about issues from non-partisan sources, and then come to my own conclusions, based on my personal values and beliefs. I spend a lot of time reading the St. Petersburg Times' Politifact reports and am the proud owner of two Michigan Truth Squad t-shirts and a Flip video camera, which I won as their Tipster of the Month.

Religion

After many years of learning about different faith traditions, I have come to believe we are all traveling in the same direction, only taking different routes. I was raised Lutheran, and am now a student of kabbalah and a spiritual seeker. I do my best to observe the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule.

Local Hot-Button Issues

It doesn't get hotter than Farmington Public Schools right now. From constant funding battles and tougher state academic standards, the district faces significant challenges. 

Both cities face tough budget issues as well, but visions are emerging for the future of Farmington and development of the Grand River corridor, from Eight Mile Road in Farmington Hills to Power Road in Farmington.