Dear Readers,
The management of El Cerrito Patch is changing. Beginning tomorrow, Jan. 7, I will begin a new role as an East Bay Patch reporter, covering El Cerrito and other Patch towns.
At the same time, Patch editors Dixie Jordan and Analisa Harangozo will be joining the team, taking care of programming the content for El Cerrito Patch and helping readers post their own content, blogs and events on the site. I hope you'll join with me in welcoming them.
In the future, you can communicate with the El Cerrito Patch staff by writing to elcerrito@patch.com.
A personal note
I have worked many years as a journalist in the Bay Area for several news organizations, and I can say that my experience as the editor of El Cerrito Patch since its , has been among the most gratifying.
The responses I've received from a large number of readers show that there's a deep desire and appreciation for community news and information.
My gratification has been enhanced by my being a long-time resident of El Cerrito and feeling that I've been given the privilege of working for an enterprise that can make a positive contribution to my own community. An extra bonus has been the opportunity to get to know and work with many of the outstanding people in El Cerrito and Kensington that I had not met before.
I'm not going away. I'll continue to provide news coverage for El Cerrito, along with other Patch localities, though my role won't be as exclusively focused on El Cerrito as before. Nor will I continue to have chief responsibility for what appears on the site.
So I just wanted to take the opportunity at this moment of transition to thank all of the readers and contributors who have made it possible for El Cerrito Patch to develop into a valuable community resource – and into a rewarding place for an El Cerrito journalist to ply his trade.
– Charles Burress
It is too bad that when you're away from the El Cerrito Patch, the site is nothing but filler with little local content. That is probably the decision of the corporation running the show. After all, they are supposed to make money, not just provide free news to Internet readers. Much content lately that runs in numerous Patch sites at the same time, most likely to generate comments, readership, and attempt to boost advertising revenue. I wonder if AOL even knows what they're doing. Back to Charles: good work. Hope to see more El Cerrito local news by you or others.
The future? Hoping the new editors will realize the uniqueness of our "bedroom" community and will continue to give us spirited *local* content in the spirit of Betty and Charles. Meanwhile, thank you to both of you. Your years of reporting have been much appreciated.
I'll echo the wish to keep the EC Patch content local, as much as possible. And Betty, great questions!
Hear, hear, Irene! You are so right!