Brent Champaco, Patch Staff

Email brent.champaco@patch.com

Phone 253-217-6060

Hometown Port Orchard

Birthday Nov. 4

Bio (professional highlights, marital status, hobbies, etc)

As a field-tested journalist who has spent the past five years covering University Place and other South Sound suburbs, Patch is my digital dream gig. I began my print news career a decade ago as a Chips Quinn Scholar in the Bay Area. I eventually finished school at Washington State University, then earned my journalistic stripes providing award-winning community coverage for newspapers in Pullman, the Tri-Cities and eventually The News Tribune in Tacoma. My most recent newspaper stint allowed me to help tell some of the South Sound's most tragic and unforgettable stories, including the Tacoma Mall and Lakewood police shootings. In my new role, I get to use my years of reporting on University Place to help provide you with news coverage you won't find anywhere else. I can't wait.

In 2012, I won Patch's first SPJ award in the Pacific Northwest Excellence in Journamism Competition, taking first place in the online, sports reporting category.

On the personal side, I'm a proud Chamorro American who was taught the value of hard work and discipline. My life is my wife and two daughters. When not in the throes of journalistic passion or pulling all-nighters in pursuit of a Master's Degree at Gonzaga University, I'm watching local sports. You name it - Sounders, Hawks, Cougs, Zags, whatever - I'm on the couch yelling at the television. (Calm down, Husky fans. When you're not playing WSU or the Zags, I'm secretly rooting for you)

Your 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 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.

Politics

How would you describe your political beliefs?

My basic political philosophy is I support anything that benefits the greater good rather a select few. I know that sounds cliche, but I can't find a better way to describe it. Often, my familial Catholic upbringing is at war with my idealistic, fight-for-social-justice teachings. Generally, I lean to the left on national issues and to the right on local issues.

Are you registered with a certain party?

No.

Religion

How religious would you consider yourself? (casual, observant, devout, non religious)

As I stated above, I was raised in a religious Catholic family. My family went to mass, and they recited novenas and rosaries on a regular basis. (Heck, in Guam, every village has its own patron saint!) Today, I still attend church, although not at the rate that used to.

Local Hot-Button Issues

What do you think are the most important issues facing the community?

Town Center. It's the community's 800-pound gorilla of local politics. The city has invested a lot of money into the project and, at least so far, hasn't delivered what many residents are expecting. However, the city is adamant that without doing anything to create more revenue, University Place will struggle financially. The city is also dealing with its own financial struggles, and it laid off employees this last budget go-around.

Another hot-button issue is the Chambers Creek Properties and Chambers Bay Golf Course. What was once Pierce County's vision for a world-class golf destination is now a nationally renowned course - it hosted the 2010 U.S. Amateur and will host the 2015 U.S. Open, one of professional golf's signature events. But the course's $20 million price tag has always had critics. Given the likely traffic and crowding that large tournaments could bring to their community, some University Place have questioned whether the course is worth the headache.

Where do you stand on each of these issues?

I can see both sides of the argument over Town Center and Chambers Bay. While Town Center has yet to deliver at the speed people want, the community needs some way to generate revenue if it wants to maintain the things that make University Place one of the most desirable communities to live in the South Sound. As for Chambers Bay, I am looking at it from a news standpoint. Having one of golf's signature events in your backyard isn't a bad news story.