Deanna Allen, Patch Staff

Email deanna.allen@patch.com

Phone 770-307-6204

Hometown Hoschton, GA

Birthday Dec. 26

Bio

Deanna Allen is a field editor for several area Patches. She is a native of Georgia who grew up in Jackson County, attended elementary, middle and high school locally and moved just 50 miles away for college. After graduating in 2006 from Piedmont College with a bachelor's degree in mass communications and political science, she worked as a reporter for the Barrow County News before taking a job as a copy editor and page designer for the Gwinnett Daily Post. After about a year, Deanna returned to writing as a features and lifestyles reporter for the Daily Post. She lives in a quiet subdivision in Winder with her two Boxer bulldogs, Louie and Sophie.

My 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 does not mean we will inject our beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that our beliefs are on the record will help us 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

I am an aspiring political atheist — I want to remain independent of any political party's ideologies and agenda and base my opinions and voting decisions on what I believe best serves the citizens of this country. That being said, I stress the word aspiring, as I have a tendency to lean toward Republican viewpoints on many issues facing Americans today but still retain a liberal outlook.

Religion

I grew up attending a Methodist church. While I personally have deep faith in God and Jesus Christ, I am less religious and more spiritual. I also recognize there are many spiritual and religious paths one might take and aspire to be as understanding and respectful of others as possible. We are all trying to find our way in this world.

Local Hot-Button Issues

One of the most important issues I think Barrow, and every other county in Georgia, is facing is the idea of sustainable growth and development. As a Barrow County resident, I believe we must consider and plan for the future today. I will hopefully still be living 50 to 60 years from now and I would like to be living in a county that has adequately planned for growth so that its residents can live comfortably with adequate resources. That planning shouldn't happen five years from now or 10 years from now. It should happen now. I don't have all the answers but I believe as a community we can find them.