Nathan Kennedy

Occupation: Small business owner

Relevant experience: In my professional life I have to wear many hats from project manager to chief in charge of taking out the trash. I believe strongly that even if we disagree on something if we speak rationally and with courtesy we can come to a reasonable compromise.

1. Describe your thoughts on the city’s response to the complex homeless issue, including its purchase of the S. Michigan St. property, its handling of federal court rulings directing the city’s response, and what you, as a city council member, would do to tackle the issue over the next several years.

There is no good place for a temporary shelter for our truly homeless but for our police to enforce our laws we need to have one with enough potential capacity that we don’t run into a situation like we are in now. Moving forward we need to see more affordable housing solutions to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place due to low wages, illness, etc. I would very much like to see a more comprehensive system for handling those with mental illness and we also need to increase our police force so they can more quickly respond to incidents as they are happening.

I know you have heard this but this truly is a very complex issue that needs to be handled with rational thinking, integrity, and compassion.

2. The city is moving forward with its quest for a City Administrator. Do you believe such a hire is a good investment for the city? Do you support the idea of a City Administrator?

Our city is growing which means we need to provide the proper support for our public services. Most of the current City Council have full-time jobs and we aren’t on or running for council for the paycheck. I have heard people talk at city council meetings during the public comment periods about things slipping through the cracks or not being completed promptly. I believe an Administrator would be the best solution to keeping the city on top of things and running smooth.

3. Aberdeen faces a lot of complicated issues in the coming years (infrastructure improvements, catching up with a constantly changing economy, lack of affordable housing, etc.). As a council member, what would you do to address what you feel is the most pressing issue facing the city in the near future?

This is truly a team effort and I believe that getting our downtown core back to being a place people want to go would do a lot to springboard our city back in the shape we want it. There are a few projects focused on the arts that I believe are very important but we also need the owners of the buildings that are currently vacant to do something more than just sit on them. I would like to explore what kind of incentives the city may be able to offer first and if that is ineffective then we should look into a penalty if a building is left vacant for too long.