Hometown: Yonkers, NY
Email: josh.semendoff@patch.com Phone: (914)-346-7467 Facebook: facebook.com/BronxvillePatch Twitter:twitter.com/BronxvillePatch Birthday: April 12   Bio: Born and raised in Yonkers NY, Josh has a deeply rooted history here in Westchester County and has been working with Patch since August of 2010, starting out as a freelance writer before becoming Local Editor of the Bronxville-Eastchester Patch in March of 2012. Josh has several years of experience covering news stories that affect daily life such as government meetings, school events, police and fire emergencies and much more. With a B.A. in Elementary Education and a M.A. in History, Josh's initial training was in the education field and now as Local Editor of Bronxville-Eastchester Patch, you can find him merging his passion for Education and Journalism into one, spotlighting many features that deal with teachers, students and parents. Overall, Josh believes that the job of the Local Editor is to be the person who is able to access whatever information is necessary so that the community can stay informed about the daily life and activities that surround them and that this information is communicated in a clear and timely manner. Some of Josh's other hobbies include sports, where he is a die hard Yankees, Giants, Knicks and Rangers fan. History, where you can bet Josh is always finding out the ins and outs of various places around Westchester and even New York State, exploring historic landmarks and even writing about his hometown on a regularly updated website that he created back in 2011 called Myyonkers.org. Also in his spare time you can find Josh exploring the Hudson Valley as well as the streets of Manhattan, attending ballgames and Broadway shows and spending time with his friends and family.    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 and human beings have beliefs. So in the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal certain key beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable. This disclosure is not a license for our editors to inject these 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 force us to be ever mindful to write, report, and edit in a fair, balanced way. And if you, the user, ever think you see evidence that we failed in this mission, we wholeheartedly invite you to let us know. Politics How would you describe your political beliefs? I am a registered independent who believes that voting should not simply follow party lines, but should entail casting a ballot for the right person for the position, regardless of affiliation As an American who is proud of our nation's history, I strongly believe in the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment - Freedom of Speech, Religion, the Press, Freedom of Assembly and the Freedom to petition the government. Religion How religious would you say you are? Casual, observant, devout, non-religious? I was raised in a house where we celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah and learned the traditions of both the Temple and Catholic Church. As an adult however, I am not religious, but am always eager to learn about and experience the multitude of ways people practice religion through church services and other events. Local Hot Button Issues What do you think are the most important issues facing the community? As always whether there is a recession or not, the economy is going to be an important issues and it has been the main focal point for most communities across America since 2007. Also, Education is always a large issue for our area, as well as anything that has a major impact on the quality of life that people have always enjoyed in Suburban NY. Where do you stand on each of these issues? As far as economics, I believe it is important for more people to get back to working a full-time job and this needs to be done in part through local, state and federal initiatives that fund capitol projects, creating jobs and increasing the quality of life in the process. When it comes to education, I believe this is one of the toughest periods of time in the last 50 years for teachers as more and more scrutiny has been brought upon them in the form of higher standards, higher accountability and fewer resources. It's also a period of time right now where budgets are not adding up and school districts are being forced to implement cuts year after year, adding even more to the stress of the role of an educator. I firmly believe that student achievement is based on the quality of teachers and that in order for test scores to increase and for districts to show academic growth, communities like ours need to continue to attract the best educators in the country.