Basics

• Phone: 862-206-9838
• Email: heather@patch.com
• Hometown: Landing, NJ
• Birthday: February 18
• Bio: Heather is a Jersey girl at heart with a passion for journalism. She graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in 2008 and since then has worked for USA TODAY, the Daily Record and the Asbury Park Press. In her free time she likes to read books, especially Harry Potter, James Patterson, Dan Brown, Jane Austen and Twilight, and cheer on her favorite sports teams: the Mets and the Syracuse men's basketball team.

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? Moderate
  

      

Religion

• How religious would you say you are? Casual, observant, devout, non-religious? Observant
  

           

Local Hot Button Issues

• What do you think are the most important issues facing the community? 

1. Fiscal responsibilty
2. Overlook Helipad Applicaton
3. Downtown Health

• Where do you stand on each of these issues? 

1. The city council approved a smaller capital budget for 2009 but in doing so defered some projects in town. It's hard to find a balance between what needs to be done and finding the money to do it. But I'll probably never see $3.3 million dollars so it will always seem like a lot to be spending to me. 
2. Honestly, this is one where no one wins. You either put a helipad on the roof and help save lives and upset a lot of people or you don't put it on the roof to make residents happy but roll the dice when it comes to life saving medical procedures. No one wins here. 
3. There are more downtown businesses vacant now than ever before. But i think the downtown will continue to thrive and will back back in action soon.