Patch User Profile for Emily Portoghese

Email: emily@patch.com Phone: 631-276-8364 Hometown: Bayport, NY Birthday: 3/25/85 Twitter: @BayportBluPatch/ @SayvillePatch Welcome Video: http://patch.com/A-yX3

Bio

After graduating from Bayport - Blue Point High School in 2003, Emily headed to the University at Albany, SUNY, where she received a Bachelor's Degree in English and minored in Journalism. After college Emily landed a job as a reporter with two of Johnlor Publishing's weekly newspapers, The Suffolk County News and Islip Bulletin. As a 15-year resident of Bayport, she is excited to report on the remarkable people, businesses, schools and organizations that make B - BP such a wonderful place to live.

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

How would you describe your political beliefs?

Although I do have certain standards, I usually vote for the person who I think would do the best job, regardless of their party affiliation.

Are you registered with a certain party?

No. Religion

How religious would you consider yourself? (casual, observant, devout, non religious)

Casual. Local Hot-Button Issues

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

From attending meetings of the school board, civic association and a variety of other organizations throughout the last couple of years, it seems a majority of people in the area are concerned with the rising cost of property taxes.

Another issue that picked up steam in the last year or so is the safety of Middle Road. Stop signs were recently installed at six intersections on this county road. While the signs made many residents feel safer while walking, biking and driving on Middle Road, the installation of the signs upset others who think the signs are unnecessary and a blight on the community.

Where do you stand on each of these issues?

As a young person who has only been in the working world for three years, it is hard for me to imagine being able to afford buying a home of my own in this community one day, which I would love to do. Although a lot of school district budget matters are due to New York State mandates, I think the district has done a good job of trying to keep the taxes low while maintaining all programs. However, I think there may be additional measures the district could take that would allow for an even more modest budget increase each year.

There are pros and cons to the stop signs on Middle Road. On one hand, stop signs may allow for safer travel, either by vehicle or foot, but the "stop ahead" signs and white writing in the road also reading "stop ahead" before each new stop sign is a little much.