Heather Collura, Patch Staff

<b>Basics</b>

<b>Phone</b>: 862-206-9838

<b>Email</b>: heather&#64;patch.com

<b>Hometown</b>: Landing, NJ

<b>Birthday</b>: February 18

<b>Bio</b>: 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&#39;s basketball team.

<br><br><b>Beliefs </b><br><i>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. <br> <br> 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.</i><br><br><br><b>Politics</b>

<i>How would you describe your political beliefs? </i>Moderate<i><br></i>

       <br><br><b>Religion</b>

<i>How religious would you say you are? Casual, observant, devout, non-religious? </i>Observant, parishioner at St. Teresa&#39;s of Avila. <i><br></i>

            <br><br><b>Local Hot Button Issues</b>

<i>What do you think are the most important issues facing the community? </i>

Fiscal responsibility

Overlook Helipad 

Downtown Health

<i>Where do you stand on each of these issues? </i>

The city is currently struggling with a budget that reduced police and fire overtime by $30,000 each. Due to a 5-hour power outage in July and extra patrols and shifts related to the murder of Abelino Mazariego, the police department is burning though their overtime budget faster than the city would like. I have gotten to know a lot of the police officers and fire fighters pretty well over the last year and I know they all work hard. But there comes a time when we must learn to do more with less. I&#39;m not saying those budget cuts need to or should come from police and fire, but I know I could never afford to buy a home in Summit and that&#39;s unfortunate. Summit is a great place to live and I would love to settle here with my soon-to-be husband and raise our family here. I just don&#39;t think it&#39;ll ever be affordable for us. 

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&#39;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. If the hospital decide to appeal the Zoning Board&#39;s decision to county superior court, they are going to make a lot of enemies in town. I&#39;ll be one of them, not because I care one way or the other about if the helipad goes up, but I don&#39;t want to go to Elizabeth for the hearings!

I think the downtown will continue to thrive and will be back in action soon. The debate really is about how to help foster that. Of all the proposals I&#39;ve heard so far, I think recruiting more diverse variety of stores is key. How many banks and nail salons does Summit really need? We&#39;ve got a few new businesses that either just opened or are slated to open soon and that is wonderful! I&#39;m looking forward to enjoying them myself. I know for many people the &#34;P&#34; word is the number one issue for them. And while I agree parking downtown can oftentimes be hairy, I am not a big fan of switching to paid shopper parking. It&#39;s the reason I don&#39;t go to shop in Westfield or other towns. If I want to run downtown to run errands or go window shopping with my friends, I don&#39;t want to have to worry about how much it&#39;s going to cost me. But I know I&#39;m in the minority on this one, so I&#39;ll just walk downtown more! I already try not to drive if I can help it!