New Grundy County Board member Nathanael Greene hopes to bring ‘fresh perspective’

GRUNDY COUNTY — Before he was an elected official, Nathanael Greene was a frequent fixture in the audience at Morris City Council and Grundy County Board meetings taking notes and absorbing the process from within.

Such first-hand knowledge of government proceedings could prove useful to Greene — a 19-year-old former aide to outgoing state Rep. David Welter — as he finds himself among the youngest members of the Grundy County Board ever elected.

“I just jumped at the chance to run and get involved locally. I had David Welter encouraging me to run and a couple of county board members actually said I would be a good fit on the board. So, instead of just being able to talk about it, I have the opportunity to be a part of the process and see things from the inside,” he said.

Greene’s ability to forge relationships is one of the many reasons he was able to become a legislative aid for Welter, a Morris Republican who lost his bid for reelection in the spring GOP primary. The two first met in 2016, when Greene visited Springfield as a local 4H leader.

Greene has been an aide with Welter for a year. He said he learned a lot about the legislative process, by seeing it “from the inside.”

“I learned how to work with people, how to read people, the importance of talking to your constituents and listening to what they have to say and acting out on that,” he said.

Greene is the second youngest member to serve on the Grundy County Board, Welter was a few months younger when he was elected.

“He is a passionate young man and when he puts his mind to something he does what he needs to do to get the job done,” Welter said.

Greene said his age will bring a “fresh” perspective to the board, but he hopes to learn from members of the board who have more experience.

“There is certainly a lot to be said, for experience and people who are older than me who have been through more in life — who have seen more. But, I also think that we need a bit more of my generation to step up and take part in the political process to contribute to society,” he said.

While being young has its benefits, there are many obstacles that come with being the youngest on the board. Through his own experience, Welter said, perhaps that the biggest hurdle Greene will face is “being taken seriously.”

“If you come prepared and do your homework, show up and treat it like a full-time job, really research a topic prior to board and people will begin to respect you,” he said.

Greene was raised in Minooka until he was 10 and then he moved to Morris. His father, Timothy Greene, is the Pastor at Living World Bible Church, and his mother, Andrea Greene, homeschooled all six of her children, Nathanael, Mary, Kami, Hanna, Mathew, and Micah.

“Family is one of the most important things I’ve learned growing up — family and relationships are everything,” he said. “It’s the relationships that you have, especially with close people like your family and friends that make the world run.”

Looking forward, Greene said, his goal as a board member is “to keep Grundy County a good place to live.”

“I want to keep it safe, I want to keep it a place families can come and live, a place that is easy to thrive and where the economy is doing well. Somewhere it’s not difficult to get by,” he said.

After the Nov. 8 General Election, Democrats held onto supermajorities in both the Illinois House and Senate while winning 14 of 17 U.S. House races. In Grundy County, Republicans maintained their control taking 17 of the 18 seats.

Greene called the election at the state and federal level a “debacle” emphasizing the importance of the GOP remaining conservative despite the loss.

“There has been a push from some to remain to kind of try to make it a little bit more moderate and include more people in the camp, but if the tent gets too big you don’t end up actually accomplishing anything. Because you can’t even agree on what you should do,” he said. Greene has always had an interest in the political process, calling himself “a political junkie”.

While Greene said he is a supporter of former Republican President Donald Trump, he also thinks it is time for him “to get out of the way.”

Greene said he was “never a fan of his personality, the way he carried himself. I thought it was childish. I thought it was disgusting at times and now, especially, I feel like he might need to get out of the way because he is attacking the party. He is going after his own people.

“So, I think he either needs to shut up and stop or he needs to go away because he is not good for the party. It’s not good for unity and he is just a little bit of a distraction at this point,” he said.

In Grundy County, Greene said he intends to “take it slow” during his first term, but he intends to make Grundy County proud.

“I tend to be a good representative and I will be more than happy if people think I have done a bad job to get voted out in two years. But, I think there are people who would attest to my maturity and ability to do the job. I am thankful to everyone who has voted for me. Just because your young, doesn’t mean you can’t stand for what’s right and do what is best for the people,” he said.