Email: mayra.marcotte@patch.com Phone: 408-623-5145 Hometown: San Jose, CA Mayra Flores De Marcotte is a first generation Mexican American. Both her parents were immigrants, with similar stories as many that came before and after them. Her first language is Spanish and she is still fluent. Mayra's parents learned English when she started school and later were naturalized to gain the right to vote. Education has always been important in the family and a driving force growing up. Mayra became the first to attend and graduate college. She is a San Jose State University graduate with a degree in Journalism. Mayra has worked in the field for almost 10 years in various capacities, from a production assistant, ad traffiker and paste-up work to reporter and editor. She worked for the Metro Newspaper, the Wave Magazine and most recently the Silicon Valley Community Newspapers. She is a recipient of four John Swett Awards for Media Excellence for her coverage of education and schools in the Santa Clara County as well as two San Francisco Peninsula Press Club Awards and was a Blue Ribbon Finalist for the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Mayra is married to the love of her life, has a beautiful son, a sassy cat and a sweet dog. Her husband is a local photographer and she acts as his business manager and web designer. Mayra is also an entrepreneur, launching a jewelry business in 2010 where she take pieces of jewelry, both new and found, deconstructs and then reconstructs, making one-of-a-kind pieces that are sold at various local boutiques. She enjoys going out as a family to art museums, flea markets and local parks and on rainy days stay at home and get her hands busy doing art projects. 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 My politics are simple. I am pro-civil rights for everyone and pro-equal opportunity to education and healthcare. I think everyone should have a voice and an opportunity to be heard, regardless of what they believe. I feel that if society is educated, other things will follow. I believe in accountability and transparency. I believe in hard work, which sometimes means compromise. Above all else, I believe in fairness in journalism, telling every side's story and letting the readers decide how they feel. Religion I was brought up Roman Catholic and went to private catholic schools growing up. I no longer practice, however I understand the importance of religion for others and respect that. Local Hot-Button Issues *Schools, their programming, classroom size, graduation rates and how districts deal with smaller budgets. *Street improvement projects, safety and traffic. *Businesses *Development, especially housing and the effects of more people in a concentrated area. This site is about you, for you, so I hope that each and every one of you will add a comment, ask a question or offer a story or photo to share with the rest of Campbell. I'm around town everyday. Stop by and share your story or let me know if there's something that should be covered.