Full Name: Nathanael Greene
What office are you seeking? Grundy County Board
What offices, if any, have you previously held? None.
City: Morris
Occupation: Legislative Aide to State Rep. David Welter
Education: Completed High School
Finished freshman year of college
What actions can the Grundy County Board take to minimize the tax burden on residents while not sacrificing services?
By continuing to support a pro-jobs economic climate in Grundy County, the Board can focus on implementing policies that will help attract new industry, which will in turn add to our tax base and lessen the financial pressure on residents.
What county projects would you like to see addressed during your term?
The most important course of action would be to complete the intergovernmental agreement between Morris, Channahon, and Minooka to further develop the Brisbin Road interchange and bring more economic development to the region.
How would you encourage economic and employment growth within Grundy County?
Primarily by working with the Grundy Economic Development Council to score projects and thereby bring jobs, a larger tax base, and more tax revenue into the County, always seeking to maintain fair relations with neighboring communities while we stay competitive and seek to retain vital business enterprises in the area.
Grundy County has become a favorite location for solar farm companies setting up shop on local farmland. What impact do you think these green energy facilities will have.
While I am hesitant to use already-productive agricultural land for climate-related purposes, I am also excited about these future green energy opportunities. I support the protections for farmland already in place and believe we should return the land to its original state after using it responsibly.
Do you see the solar farm operations as a net gain or loss for the county?
I see them as a net gain when they are sited corrected and landowners are compensated fairly.
Expansion from the Chicago metro area is creeping toward Grundy County. Do you think this could be good or bad for the county?
I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for development, as long as the growth is contained and controlled. If it is not, social services will be stressed beyond capacity, and the surge in population will be accompanied by rising crime and higher tax rates, making the County into a much less friendly environment for raising a family or starting a business.
What actions should the county take to either encourage the growth or help stave it off?
Once again, I think overseeing steady growth and keeping it in check--not allowing it to escalate rapidly--is the smartest and safest way forward.
Grundy County has experienced a recent increase in drug activity. What actions should the county take to assist local government agencies, specifically law enforcement, to ensure the safety of the community and decrease crime rates?
We should continue our support of the Sheriff’s Department, which has proven effective in cracking down on crime, specifically in managing the drug addiction crisis, as well as offer our backing to task forces assigned to further research or investigate the matter.
SB 818 Bill has become a hot topic at local school board meetings, do you support comprehensive sexual education, including LGBTQ-specific health information in public schools, K-12?
These issues should be left up to local school boards and parents; they should not be decided by politicians and are not within the jurisdiction of the County Board.
How do you plan to ensure local school districts have the resources needed to ensure teachers have the resources to properly educate their students on the subject?
Once again, the control should remain local and within the schools. Funding comes from the state and federal governments; however, that does not mean they should have total oversight over curriculum and teaching methods.
Do you think there is a local crime problem? If so, what needs to be done about it?
There are certainly pockets of crime in the area, and recent legislation passed in Springfield targeting police departments definitely hasn’t helped anything. We must continue to support our competent law enforcement agencies in Grundy County and provide them with all the resources they need to keep our community safe.
What local road and bridge projects should be a priority to get done in the county?
A strong priority would be to finally finish the construction work on Ridge Road, now that the end is in sight. Another would be to work with community stakeholders in the state to patch up portions of I-80 which run through the County.
Do you support decreasing local property taxes? If so, how would the county make up the difference?
Yes. We should lower tax levies and improve efficiency in local government, consolidating resources and streamlining the process, allowing taxpayers to keep their hard-earned money.
Do you support stronger county government ethics laws? What measures do you support?
I stand firmly behind any ethics laws regulating behavior on the County Board. I also support the appointed Ethics Commission, a body that was formed recently but has not yet been fully utilized. I hope to see it realize its full potential in the next few years.
What are your thoughts on the Illinois Freedom of Information Act?
I support it wholeheartedly as yet another means of transparency for the voter. FOIA requests in Grundy have a history of being taken seriously and followed and I want to keep it that way.
Please state your plan to maintain government transparency.
In the last decade, the Grundy County transparency rating has greatly improved, and if there are any further measures to increase those metrics by putting more information online and into the hands of the citizens, I will gladly get behind it.
What would you push for as a member of county government to boost local businesses?
The GEDC has a very underappreciated impact on the community and I would love to see more resources allocated to it as it continues to spur economic growth in the County.
Should government employees and officials be allowed to sign non- disclosure agreements with private businesses?
I would not be in favor of the idea because it reduces transparency and promotes a bad public image.
Would you push for or against government officials and employees being allowed to sign non-disclosure agreements with private businesses?
Against.