Email: ryan.gauthier@patch.com

Phone: 952-449-1749

Hometown: Rubicon, Wis.

Birthday: Sept. 7, 1984

Ryan comes to Patch with several years of newsroom experience, most recently with a group of community newspapers in southwest Ohio. He grew up in Rubicon, Wisconsin, a rural farm town about an hour outside of Milwaukee.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2006, Ryan spent much of his free time working at the Badger Herald, the largest independent student newspaper in the country. He served as the daily paper's ArtsEtc. Editor, writing countless columns and articles along the way.

Ryan moved to Oxford, Ohio in 2007, where he received an education in community journalism while covering multiple beats for the Oxford Press, an award-winning weekly newspaper. He became deeply entrenched in local politics, education and police issues and developed a firm grasp of hyperlocal journalism during more than two years with the paper.

He went on to take a position with the Middletown Journal, a daily newspaper with a paid circulation of approximately 20,000. His reporting on a wide range of topics in and around Middletown, Ohio earned him a second place finish as the Ohio Associated Press News Writer of the year for 2009.

When he's not busy working, Ryan enjoys seeing movies, listening to music and taking long walks around the Twin Cities with his girlfriend and their dog. He is also a huge sports fan, never missing an opportunity to cheer for the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers.

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 us to 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 cause 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 would not say my beliefs fall along any party lines, though I do tend to lean toward the liberal end of the spectrum on most issues.

Religion
I was raised Catholic, though I admittedly do not attend church with any regularity at this point.

Local Hot-Button Issues
As a first-ring suburb of the Twin Cities, Edina is now completely developed. I personally think one fascinating aspect of this community moving forward will be deciding how to redevelop parts the city to better meet the needs of future generations of Edina residents.

Edina has mostly escaped the reach of the recent economic downturn, but I'm interested to see if that trend continues going forward. I'm certain the city budget will remain somewhat tight for the next few years, but further changes in the economy could force city officials to reassess their spending.

I also believe the continued success of the Edina School District is of the utmost importance. Edina schools are routinely recognized for their tremendous impact on the community and from what I have seen everyone is on the same page in terms of supporting the education system in any way possible.