Peggy Spear, Patch Staff

<strong>Email: </strong>Peggy.spear&#64;patch.com<br><strong>Phone:</strong> 925-348-1633<br><strong>Hometown:</strong> Chico, CA (But now lives in Walnut Creek, CA)<br><strong>Birthday: </strong>June 13, 1964

I have been involved in local journalism for more than 15 years, as an editor at Diablo Publications, a freelance writer with the SF Chronicle, and Community Editor at the Contra Costa Times (overseeing the community papers in central Contra Costa County). Most recently I was editor of Bay Area Parent magazine. I live in Walnut Creek with my husband, Tony Ucciferri, and two of my three children: Charlie, 17, a junior at Northgate, and Mick, 13, a seventh-grader at Foothill. My daughter Frannie is a freshman at UC Berkeley, her mom and dad&#39;s alma mater (Go Bears!), where she lives on campus. As a point of transparency, I am an avid fan of Northgate High and the Woodlands Swim Team – but won&#39;t  let it get in the way of my editing and reporting. And let me have it if it does.<br><br><strong>Beliefs</strong><br>I believe in allowing the pitcher to hit, opening presents on Christmas morning, and watching baseball movies whenever the stress of real life gets too much. In all seriousness, my beliefs are simple: family and community are what is most important in life, and if you keep your side of the street cleaned up... well, that&#39;s all you should worry about.

Reporting should be fair, and good editors won&#39;t allow bias to interfere with professionalism. Having said that, everyone has biases. Know what those are, and make sure they don&#39;t enter into a story. <br><br><strong>Politics </strong><br>A liberal with conservative tendencies regarding childrearing and finances, my basic philosophies are &#34;Do what I say, not what I did.&#34; While I&#39;m a registered Democrat, I prefer the term Independent, hating idealogues and extremists. <br><br><strong>Religion</strong><br>I was raised Catholic, and am raising my children the same way. However, my family and I do not attend mass regularly. My oldest daughter decided not to be confirmed in the faith, opting instead for a sort of agnostic experience.<br><br><strong>Local Hot-Button Issues</strong><br>I think that three main issus in Concord are: the financial health and economic development of Concord; the MDUSD problems; and the development of the Concord Naval Weapons Station.

I believe in attracting businesses to the city, and don&#39;t mind Big Box stores or fast food establishments – when they are in commercial areas and not neighborhoods. I would like to see Concord attract some bio-tech and healthcare companies to the area, since that will be a thriving industry as Baby Boomers age.

As a mother of three children who attend or who have attended MDUSD schools (and as a former PTA president at Valle Verde), I am  a fierce proponent of a parcel tax to help the district. However, the main problem with MDUSD is that it is too big, and I would definitely support proposals to create smaller districts from this big monolith.

Finally, I like the proposal that was adopted by the city for the reuse of the CNWS. Also, I support the establishment of a CSU campus there – but only if the infrastructure can be strengthened to support the traffic and security issues that a new college would create. But the benefits of being a &#34;college town&#34; outweigh the drawbacks.