Scott Carlson, Patch Staff

I'm a journalist who has concentrated on business reporting for many years.  I most recently came from Finance & Commerce business newspaper in Minneapolis. Prior to that I worked at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader for a year.  I worked nearly 30 years at the St Paul Pioneer Press covering government and business.

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 us to inject our beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that our beliefs are on the record will cause us 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 don’t belong to any political party. I tend to be liberal on some issues and conservative on others. I like to see a relative balance in power between the two major parties so that issues get thoroughly debated. I favor people working together to advance the common good.

Religion I am a member of Atonement Lutheran Church in New Brighton.

Local Hot-Button Issues Even though Roseville is predominantly already built up, the city faces many interesting issues including how to make the most of its public resources and balance the needs of business with those of residents.