Annie Archer, Patch Staff

Annie Archer has been a journalist most of her career, with the exception of a short stint as a field biologist and marine lab assistant. She started her journalism career in California at community newspapers, covering Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach. She then moved to The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin covering the City of Pomona, the eastern most portion of Los Angeles County.

After a brief time as a vagabond through Africa and Europe, Annie returned to California and resumed her journalism career writing for the Orange County edition of the Los Angeles Times. She also has a master's degree in environmental science and worked briefly as a field biologist and as a lab assistant Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Annie has also written bits of textbooks, science study books, and ESL storybooks for Korean school children. She is a Southern California native who moved her family to Woodinville six years ago to take advantage of the better schools, lower crime, and endless green of the Pacific Northwest. But she does miss Huntington Beach and Disneyland.

Annie is married and has two teenage sons. She is a volunteer with King County Master Gardeners and loves growing vegetables, creating new gardens, and reading gardening books. She hates weeding and moles. In her spare time she likes to read and watch whatever series Joss Whedon is currently producing (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog—you get the picture). 

Her family is increasingly educating her on robotics, MMOs, RPGs, steampunk, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and basically anything Dr. Sheldon Cooper would be interested in.<br> <br> <b>Your Beliefs</b><br> 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. <br> <br> <b>Politics</b><b> </b><br> How would you describe your political beliefs?

I am a tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, old-school lefty. In short, my candidate rarely wins.

Are you registered with a certain party?

As Will Rogers is reported to have said, &#34;I don&#39;t belong to an organized political party. I&#39;m a Democrat.&#34;<br> <br> <b>Religion</b><br> How religious would you consider yourself?

I was raised a Catholic, but am an atheist. I subscribe to the Douglas Adams philosophy; the meaning of life is 42. Do not take this to mean I am anti-religion, if it weren&#39;t for the religious institutions in Woodinville there would be a lot of families going without food, clothing and emotional comfort.<br> <b><br> Local Hot-Button Issues</b><br> What do you think are the most important issues facing the community?

Development in downtown and the tourist district, and city/county budget woes would be the two biggest issues. Traffic, education, and the local economy are also important to Woodinville.  <br><br>Where do you stand on each of these issues?

I adhere to the tenents of good journalism and try to keep an open mind. If I feel strongly about an issue, I will write an opinion piece, which will be clearly labeled as such.