TONY DODERO -- Editor’s Notebook

I’m baaaaack.

I’ve returned to the place where I got my start as a journalist in the

early 1990s.

The place where, as a young cub reporter, I learned the ropes from the

master reporter of all time, Robert “Bob” Barker.

Bob, who spends most of his days now slugging homers on his senior

softball team, wrote about Huntington Beach for some 25 years with a zest

and zeal that was immeasurable.

Where as city editor in the mid-1990s, I learned the craft of editing

from my mentors Steve Marble and Bill Lobdell, who taught me how

important community journalism is to the readers.

Huntington Beach was very, very different back then. Former western TV

star Jack Kelly was on the council, the Bolsa Chica Land Trust didn’t

even exist and many folks were hoping to just keep the development at the

wetlands to 4,000 homes, much less the minuscule numbers being talked

about today.

The Huntington Beach Pier was still a shambles from winter storms, the

Grinder was a pretty popular place to eat and instead of runoff in the

water, the town was still licking its wounds from the American Trader oil

spill of 1990.

And, oh yeah, current Mayor Dave Garofalo was this paper’s publisher.

Yep, things really can change.

And now, nearly 10 years later, I have been given an even bigger honor

and responsibility as the editor in chief of the Independent.

I hope I live up to the readers’ expectations.

But I’m going to have a lot of help along the way.

Some of you may not know this, but recently, the Independent got a new

city editor, Mary Beth Adomaitis.

I’ve worked with Mary Beth in other capacities for the better part of

three years now, and I know her to be a fair and talented journalist. She

is a fine addition to this newspaper and is a great leader of the staff.

We’ve also got a new Huntington Beach City Hall reporter, Tariq Malik,

a young man with a great eye for news and feature stories.

Of course, we’re stocked with veteran talent with education reporter

Angelique Flores, Fountain Valley City Hall reporter Torus Tammer, sports

writer Mike Sciacca, photographer Sean Hiller, photo editor Steve

McCrank, sports editor Roger Carlson, page designer Alicia Lopez and

DeAnna George, the former city editor and current news editor of the

paper.

I’m very excited about my new relationship with the Independent and

look forward to talking with many of you very soon. In the meantime,

don’t hesitate to let me know what’s on your mind.

I can be reached by phone at (949) 574-4258 or via e-mail at

tony.dodero@latimes.com.

* TONY DODERO is the editor of the Independent.