Sharon Bass, Patch Staff

<b>Email</b>

sharon.bass&#64;patch.com

<b>Phone</b>

203.721.4085

<b>Hometown<br></b>

East Haven, Conn.

<b>Birthday</b>

March 2

<b>Bio</b>

Sharon Bass brings to East Haven Patch her passion of and dedication to hyperlocal reporting. A longtime journalist, Bass was a reporter for The New York Times and wrote for regional dailies and magazines. She was the editor of several alt-weekly newspapers in Massachusetts and Maine, and founded two newspapers: a weekly hard-copy, Windham Independent, covering Windham, Maine; and an online &#34;newspaper,&#34; Hamden Daily News, covering Hamden, Conn.

Sharon is a competitive Scrabble player.<br><br><b>Beliefs</b>

<i>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.</i>

<b>Politics</b>

<i>How would you describe your political beliefs?</i>

They vary depending on the level: local, state or national. For instance, national party ideologies are typically irrelevant to local politics. I usually register independent.

<b>Religion</b>

<i>How religious would you consider yourself? </i>

Not religious.

<b>Local Hot-Button Issues</b>

<i>What do you think are the most important issues facing the community?</i>

East Haven, Conn., like virtually every community across the nation, is struggling economically. The mill rate went from 22.85 to 26.84 this fiscal year. That was partly due to unmet projected revenues in the previous budget. Town permits and investment income are down. Furthermore, the former finance director overestimated actual property tax collections. And Anthem Blue Cross raised the town&#39;s premium by $3 million.

Infrastructure improvements were largely ignored by the last administration, which the current administration is now addressing. Roads, bridges and municipal properties are in dire need of repair and in some cases require rebuilding.

The old high school is in very bad shape and is vacant, except to temporarily house the East Haven Historical Society. The town is struggling to figure out what to do with the high school building: renovate or sell?

The federal Department of Justice is investigating the East Haven Police Department for alleged racial profiling, as well as conducting a civil investigation into the reported lack of policies, procedures and training for officers. The result of that investigation will likely cost the town a significant amount of money in rectifying the insufficiencies.