Jessie Biele, Patch Staff

I was born and raised on Long Island. I graduated from Purchase College in 2008 with a B.A. in Journalism and Women's Studies, where I was one of the founding members of The Brick, Purchase's online news website run by disgruntled journalism majors after we found out we lost the funding for our department's newspaper. I returned to Long Island after graduation and worked as a freelance reporter for The Long Island Advance, a community newspaper covering 10 towns on the Great South Bay. After two years of freelancing in my community, I was hired as a staff reporter at Johnlor Publishing in Sayville, New York, writing for The Suffolk County News and the Islip Bulletin and freelanced for Patchogue Patch, Sayville Patch, and Bayport-Blue Point Patch.

I am graduated (!) with my master's in Public Communication from American University in May 2013.

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 my political stance is pretty liberal, I tend to vote for the person who I believe would do the best job in listening to his or her constituents and initiating changes.

Are you registered with a certain party? I tend to lean left on social issues.

Religion

How religious would you consider yourself? (casual, observant, devout, non religious) I was raised Roman Catholic, but now I don't affiliate myself with a specific religion. I'm open to new ideas.

Local Hot-Button Issues

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

Route 1 revitalization & improving the infrastructure of Route 1 through Fort Belvoir without affecting historic landmarks.

Where do you stand on each of these issues?

I fully support the revitalization of Route 1 and I believe that it's a great location for new businesses, especially since there's plenty of traffic from commuters and residents navigating the highway. I just heard there's going to be a SweetFrog frozen yogurt shop in Kings Crossing...and when it's open you can find me there with my Patch laptop holding office hours.

I'm a big believer in supporting local commerce and I truly feel that buying local is the best way for a resident to support their community. I also support the widening of Rotue 1 through Fort Belvoir, however I would prefer an option that doesn't affect historic sites and institutions like Woodlawn Baptist Church and Woodlawn Stables.