Email: Tim.Rath@Patch.com
Phone: (248) 622-7994
Hometown: Detroit, Mich.
Birthday: August 1
Bio: I'm thrilled to have been covering West Bloomfield Patch for one year and counting. I have a nose for news which has served me well in this job; from covering local and state school issues to the police beat, from live sports play-by-play to multimedia. I grew up in the area and graduated in Summer 2009 from Oakland University with a BA degree.

I'm passionate about Patch and what to we do to provide useful and interesting information to engage the local community, as well as to offer what is essentially the scrapbook of this town, to would-be residents. Every day, I appreciate the opportunity to document the lives of West Bloomfield-ians (West Bloomfield-inites?) and am humbled by the incredible stories I can help tell.

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
I'm not registered with any particular party or interested in becoming so, although I do personally stand with the left on most social and economic issues. Professionally, I've worked hard to establish West Bloomfield Patch as a fair ground for anyone to voice their opinions.

Religion
I'm not religious and was not raised to be so. That said, my professional interest in religion has taken me to fabulous places, and I appreciate that which every religion has to offer. 

Local Hot-Button Issues
I fully expect the 2012 November election and the local administrative action to alter facilities in the wake of the stock market crash to drive activity on Patch this year. On a lighter note, I'm looking forward to covering new businesses moving into the area.