February 25, 2026 • 19 mins
Galang is one of two candidates challenging longtime incumbent Councilman Peter Noble in District 2.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Joel Malcoln for WJ and O dot com my
election spotlight on the City of Green Acres and the
city Council. There are two races there, District two and
District three four year terms. We are speaking with one
of the candidates in District two, who is one of
two challengers to the incumbent, and we have Nathan Glang
(00:23):
on the line. Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Of course, you're happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
All right, let's get some background. I feel like i've
talked to you before. I think you ran maybe a
few years ago.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, back in twenty twenty two, I ran for the
same seat. You know, it was a rookie campaign, but
I got about one votes, so I think a pretty
good start.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Yeah, what are you know?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
What?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Just kind of really quick? What are some things you
mentioned rookie campaigns? I believe that was the first time
you've ever run for office anywhere, and you could correct
me if I'm wrong. What are some things that you
know briefly, that you learned from that that you you
know you're being able to take with you to I
don't want to say make this one easier, because I
know running for office is never easy. I hear all
(01:11):
the stories from all the candidates I talked to, but
you know it's kind of helped you along.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Well, I'll say first of all, this this race feels
a little bit more stressful, not because I know less,
but because I know more and I think you know,
I'm a little hungry and them back in twenty two.
But in terms of just how I'm making it better, strategy, timing, messaging,
pretty much everything is better than twenty twenty two. And
(01:40):
in terms of those supporting me, I have the AFLCIO,
I have the Teachers Union, I have forty seven unions
level supporting my campaign. So I think in the alone
clearly indicates a bit more of a serious campaign last time.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
All right, well, we know that you have. This is
your second I'm running for office, But let us know
more about you business background. How long have you been
in Green Acres and anything else you'd like to share
with us.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, I've been in Green Acres for a little over
half a decade now, since twenty eighteen. Professionally, I'm a
dozen two teacher. I work at Education, and since I
ran back in twenty twenty two, I've been continuing to
be active in Green Acres politics alongside county politics. There's
(02:29):
many videos of me out there speaking at a commission
meeting after commission meeting on the issue of housing, on
the issue of affordability broadly, and so on, especially in
the Green Acres City Council meeting. So ironically, as the
youngest candidate, I actually seem to have, in my view,
the most extensive policy record in terms of you can
(02:52):
see where I stand on most issues.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah, I think that I remember, and then I could
be wrong because I cover so many different municipalities when
when these races come along, But I think I remember
you talking about when we did speak four years ago,
the benefits of having a younger counselman. I know that
the councilman, I don't know his age, but you know,
(03:18):
I want to say, in his senior years. And I
hope I'm correct since I went out on the skinny
branches with that. But is that something you talked about
a few years ago, and do you feel still still
feel the same?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I only bring up age now because the common line
against me is that I have no experience and the
other folks are much more experienced than me and therefore better.
But really, I think you know I've watched the current
councilmen over the last four years directly, and I can
say with full confidence that when it comes to policy
issue after policy issue, you could any outsider would be
(03:57):
able to see the list of our positions and be like, Okay,
this is more extensive record. In terms of age as
an issue, broadly, I don't think age really matters. I
think the age comes experience. That's to the benefit of
the incumbent. But what matters more than experience is what
you're actually going to do. And what I want to
(04:20):
do is help the poor and working class people in
the city and put them first.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
All right, So let's start there. Let's talk about some
of you know you do have on your campaign page
as one of your priorities or part of your platform affordability.
So what is the number one need right now for
Green Acres when it comes to affordability If you had
to pick one top thing.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Housing, Housing is the biggest thing. Housing is a fundamental
building block for people starting their lives and starting their careers.
And Green Acres was started or was founded to be
a city for the working class. Fortunately, I feel that
working class people are being priced out and as you
can see from that affordability part of my platform. Most
(05:09):
of the conversation there is talking about the housing issue
and different approaches, trying to attack it from sort of
off flanks and trying to make sure that working class
people can afford to live.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Is it maybe also as opposed to something happening on
a local level within the city or within the county.
Everybody wants to move to Florida because it doesn't matter
where you are in the state. People will tell you
they can't afford to rent, right, you know, is there
(05:40):
is there any what do you do tell people that
can't move here? I mean, how do you handle that?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Well? You know, there is definitely a lot of interest
in coming into Florida. But I will say pom Beach
County particularly is really being hit with the brunt of
the housing cost issue because I just directly, anecdotally know
people that have lived in Pombage County their whole lives
that have moved up north into state because those areas
are more affordable. But it really shouldn't have to be
(06:08):
in either or for people. People have to choose staying
where I grew up, or I have to or I'm
too poor to live in the place I grew up.
It's just not right, especially when you have these like
green ancres that was designed for them, and we're kind
of if those people are being priced out the majority
of the working class, we're failing at our mission. We're
(06:28):
not living up to our legacy of Elp Swayin, the
founder of the city. And really that's what this campaign
is all about. The city is turning one hundred years old.
I just want to live up to the original mission. Now,
how do we do that or why is Pombage County
getting in the front of it. It's likely because the
people that are mostly coming to Pombage County, frankly, the
(06:49):
sort of interest that be the people with power, let's say,
like county government or whatever. They're interested in bringing the
financial types, the rich folks, the Wall Street types, wall streets,
the concept that they talk about. You know, I'm not
interested in Wall Street. I'm interested in John Road and
Lake Worth Road and Melaluca and Billman, you know what
I mean. Like, these are my streets, and I want
(07:11):
to make sure that the people here can afford to live.
I want to make sure if there are new people here,
we attract them with more sustainable jobs, some blue collar
work from work that will pay, that you'll have long
term and consistent, that won't raise the prices for everybody around.
Because if we get like Patrick Bateman, all these Wall
Street guys from Move the Green Anchors, everybody else is
(07:32):
going to have to be it is gonna least because
when Wall Street people come, Wall Street prices come. Anyway,
it's a bit long, but I think you get my wife.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, Patrick Bateman actually from that, uh the movie with
Oh my God, the guy that played Batman in the
first three Dark Knight movies, Christian him Bale and American Psycho.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
That's what.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Patrick Bateman was from.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I guess I'm such a movie minded And as soon
as you said that, all right, So let's let's talk
about public safety. The Sheriff's office some years ago took
over the law enforcement services from the former Green Acres
Police Department, and one of your opponents I spoke to
about the public safety and she, you know, she had
(08:20):
said that she doesn't see deputies patrolling very often in
district too, like when and she said she's been in
the city for you know, over twenty years back when
there was a city PD. Yeah, what you know is
that do you share a similar thought about that is there?
I mean because I had asked her, how do you
how do you feel PbSO does with your with your
(08:42):
you know, law enforcement services, and that was her answer,
and she said, I'd want to see more patrols.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Well, you know, I'll be honest in my experience, but
I walk through the streets all the time. I I
walk more than I drive. I see the cops often
like I see them drive around pretty often. I see
the firefighters, I see the hospital folks, the e mts.
So I actually don't have too much of a concern
(09:11):
in terms of the number of patrols in terms of
just public safety in general. Certainly there's always room to
improve in public safety. I think at this point in
Green Acres we do actually have quite a strong force
in terms of like enforcing the law, you know, making
sure that if something happens, people will quickly respond. I
(09:34):
would say that the steps forward in terms of vettering
public safety is just kind of making sure that young
folks have opportunity off the streets. You know, they got
they got productive things to do, making suir community is strong,
which I think everybody that's running even my both of
my opponents are interested in as well, and especially me.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
With regard to public safety, just want more there these
I just had a thought and lake Worth had the
same issue. This is why they changed the name of
the city to Lakeworth Beach. One of the reasons was
to set itself apart from the unincorporated areas. There can
frequently be some violent crime going on in unincorporated areas,
(10:20):
say off of Forest Hill Boulevard, off of you know,
other roadways near Green Acres, but not in it. Do
you find that the city gets kind of tarnished by
that because people just automatically think, oh, that's Green Acres,
you know.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
I don't feel that the city gets tarnished as much.
I think Unfortunately with Green Acres there's not a lot
of news. Google Green Acres. The first thing you see
our shootings or crime occurred or whatever, and they can
have massive gaps like multiple months apart, multiple weeks apart.
It's just that there's barely any news that comes out
(10:58):
of here. But certainly if there is any violence, any
negative crime like that has to be addressed. It can't
just be that we just differentiate ourselves in the unincorporated area.
It has to be actually addressing those crimes. If that
means having a law enforcement kind of function, as you know,
the if something happens, that they respond, make sure they're
(11:20):
well funded, make sure they have all their needs, all
they need. We got to be sure to do that.
When it comes to the preventative side as well, we
have a massive role to play in that and in general,
in the direction we're going, I think we're going in
the right direction in terms of public safety. I walk
the streets and I feel quite safe. I walk it
at night and I feel safe. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Do you feel that the city council as it currently is,
the council members, including the one but not limited I
guess to the one in this district, the incumbent, do
you feel that they respond well to the community members
if somebody reaches out, you know it, is it kind
(12:06):
of an open door policy? And if and if not,
is that something that you would like to change.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
I think it's easy to reach them because we certainly
have like a pretty small scale political environment in Green Anchors.
So you could you could literally go to the meeting
and then after the meeting go and talk to your
council member and air out your concerns. My main issue is,
and I mentioned after my election, I continue to stay active, right,
(12:35):
and I've aired out a lot of concerns, But I'm
not just the complainer. I also propose solutions. I speak
often during the public comment, whether it's about housing, whether
it's about ice presence, or so on and so forth,
and I'll just say to be honest with you, because
people want directness. I don't feel responded to when I
(12:56):
go and speak on the issues. I've spoken about people
losing power for half a month, and I'll say I
was satisfied with one response that I got on the council,
not the rest, right, But like, I get the sense
that you can be a private citizen and trying to
do what you're supposed to do in a democracy and participate,
(13:17):
speak on the issues for those solutions, and then it's
gone in the wind. And I feel like that's not
particularly right. I think we need a more proactive government,
one that actually looks for the issues, one that doesn't
just have a majority of responses during Council member reports
being nothing to report. If you notice, on my platform
there's a part that says keep residents informed with a
(13:38):
real council member report every meeting, no exception. That's from
the direct experience multiple council members, but particularly my opponent.
The common thing during the council member reports is simply
saying nothing is a report. And if you only have
to show up two days a month and you have
nothing to report within those two weeks, it kind of
shows me it might not be in your job. So
(14:01):
I think there needs to be a bit of a
culture change in terms of Green Acres politics, one which
seeks out solutions and is willing to be open to them.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
All right, you touched on you just you mentioned something
regarding ice presence. Would you like to share your thoughts
on your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah, yeah, Well I know that I've heard a lot
of reports of ice in Linkworth Beach. I've heard reports
of ice in Wellington from folks directly in Wellington. And
I mentioned earlier how if you look at Green Acres
on like say Google News, there's rarely any news stories.
(14:42):
Like I said, we have a sort of sleepy political culture.
It's very low key. We don't have like a bunch
of activists here. But I knew in a city this diverse,
with as large of a Lazio population as we have,
ICE is certainly going to be here, and there was
recently confirmation with that with this nineteen year old marine.
(15:03):
Green Acre's resident serving this country went back home because
his father, who's been living here for years, no criminal record,
was and was in the process of trying to become
a citizen once kidnapped by ICE just kind of out
of nowhere and has been seprated. That was a nineteen
year old marine. Pretty much, if they could go after
(15:23):
our soldiers family, they can go after all of us.
So I remember seeing that on the news and I
just felt, and this is not me trying to make
myself seem great or noble, but I just felt, I
want to serve green Acres. I want to be on
the city council. I am obligated to reach out to
his family to see what I can do right. So
I called them. I tried to connect them with some
(15:44):
resources that I know in the immigration astasy space. They
had to go fund me, and I pushed to go
fund me to thousands of people through texts. They told
me that I was they had that they had reached
out to politicians and so on, and they had the
dollor slammed in their face multiple times. And that was
actually the only politician that tried to help them, and
(16:05):
certainly I was the only policies in that seeks them out.
So that's just one example when I know in Green
Acres there's got to be more. So what I was
saying to the city council on this issue, number one,
we got to make sure laws follow. If even a
federal agency is doing something wlawless, let's say, like not
giving their identity or whatever, we got to make sure
that they followed a law. It is what it is.
(16:27):
And number two, we got up for our community maybe
have a food bank for people in tough economic times.
Because in that family's case, their father was the breadwinner.
Their father was the main provider. So that's why they
started their going funding to make sure that they can
pay rent and pay for groceries. Right, And we could
just have like an area to the city hall dedicated
to just storing a bunch of spam or whatever among
(16:49):
other foods, but you know, affordable foods that we could
provide the struggling people in our community. That would at
least be a band aid on the wound that is
the ice presence in Bombach County.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
All right, we're going to wrap up with the question
I give all my candidate that you might remember from
four years ago, all my candidate interview interviewees in a nutshell,
three candidates running, including an incumbent. What makes you the
best choice?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yep. What makes me the best choice in my view
is a labor focused approach on issues of class and economics.
Is the fact that I am the only candidate with
the actual policy platform, not just priorities, and not just
listing off stuff that happened while I was serving for
(17:39):
thirty years or whatever might be. I'm saying specifically, I
want to make sure housing supply needs demand so that
costs go down. I want to say that I want
more options in terms of housing, public and private, make
sure that there's more competition. I'm saying that, if elected,
we are going to begin cutting medical debt, not by
(18:00):
raising taxes, but with a voluntary fund. Starting with my
first paycheck, about one thousand dollars from it to a
nonprofit Undo Medical Debt, which has worked with city and
county and states, and for every dollar they received, they
clear about one hundred dollars worth of debt. So my
one thousand is going to clear one hundred thousand dollars
worth of debt in the first year. I want to
(18:21):
be a yearly tradition. My point is the difference between
me and the other candidates' personality. It's not that I'm great,
it's the fact that I'm positive oriented. I'm thinking about
things that are materially going to change their lives with
people in this city. And I also the groups that
recognize that are the people that have endorsed me. I
have the most endorsements I have the AFLCIO, the CTA,
(18:43):
the IDW. The team serves forty seven unions total, and
I think that that's because they understand that we need
a change in our political culture. And I'm just in
Green Anchors, but in the nation one that puts workers first.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
All right, well, I appreciate you speaking to a more importantly,
of course, speaking to the residents of Green Acres. And
this is the council District two candidate one of three,
uh Nathan Galang. I believe on the ballot it's your
first full name, right, you don't you go by Nathan,
but it's Nathaniel, right, Is that what it is on
(19:18):
the ballot?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So yeah, yeah. Nathaniel de Lang, Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
I just want to make sure, you know, folks make
it as easy as possible that if they're going to
vote for you, they see your name properly. We appreciate
you joining us, Thanks sir coming on with me.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Thank you for the invitation. I like I like these interviews.
I love it.
Hey, Joel Malcoln for WJ and O dot com my
election spotlight on the City of Green Acres and the
city Council. There are two races there, District two and
District three four year terms. We are speaking with one
of the candidates in District two, who is one of
two challengers to the incumbent, and we have Nathan Glang
(00:23):
on the line. Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Of course, you're happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
All right, let's get some background. I feel like i've
talked to you before. I think you ran maybe a
few years ago.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, back in twenty twenty two, I ran for the
same seat. You know, it was a rookie campaign, but
I got about one votes, so I think a pretty
good start.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Yeah, what are you know?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
What?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Just kind of really quick? What are some things you
mentioned rookie campaigns? I believe that was the first time
you've ever run for office anywhere, and you could correct
me if I'm wrong. What are some things that you
know briefly, that you learned from that that you you
know you're being able to take with you to I
don't want to say make this one easier, because I
know running for office is never easy. I hear all
(01:11):
the stories from all the candidates I talked to, but
you know it's kind of helped you along.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Well, I'll say first of all, this this race feels
a little bit more stressful, not because I know less,
but because I know more and I think you know,
I'm a little hungry and them back in twenty two.
But in terms of just how I'm making it better, strategy, timing, messaging,
pretty much everything is better than twenty twenty two. And
(01:40):
in terms of those supporting me, I have the AFLCIO,
I have the Teachers Union, I have forty seven unions
level supporting my campaign. So I think in the alone
clearly indicates a bit more of a serious campaign last time.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
All right, well, we know that you have. This is
your second I'm running for office, But let us know
more about you business background. How long have you been
in Green Acres and anything else you'd like to share
with us.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, I've been in Green Acres for a little over
half a decade now, since twenty eighteen. Professionally, I'm a
dozen two teacher. I work at Education, and since I
ran back in twenty twenty two, I've been continuing to
be active in Green Acres politics alongside county politics. There's
(02:29):
many videos of me out there speaking at a commission
meeting after commission meeting on the issue of housing, on
the issue of affordability broadly, and so on, especially in
the Green Acres City Council meeting. So ironically, as the
youngest candidate, I actually seem to have, in my view,
the most extensive policy record in terms of you can
(02:52):
see where I stand on most issues.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah, I think that I remember, and then I could
be wrong because I cover so many different municipalities when
when these races come along, But I think I remember
you talking about when we did speak four years ago,
the benefits of having a younger counselman. I know that
the councilman, I don't know his age, but you know,
(03:18):
I want to say, in his senior years. And I
hope I'm correct since I went out on the skinny
branches with that. But is that something you talked about
a few years ago, and do you feel still still
feel the same?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I only bring up age now because the common line
against me is that I have no experience and the
other folks are much more experienced than me and therefore better.
But really, I think you know I've watched the current
councilmen over the last four years directly, and I can
say with full confidence that when it comes to policy
issue after policy issue, you could any outsider would be
(03:57):
able to see the list of our positions and be like, Okay,
this is more extensive record. In terms of age as
an issue, broadly, I don't think age really matters. I
think the age comes experience. That's to the benefit of
the incumbent. But what matters more than experience is what
you're actually going to do. And what I want to
(04:20):
do is help the poor and working class people in
the city and put them first.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
All right, So let's start there. Let's talk about some
of you know you do have on your campaign page
as one of your priorities or part of your platform affordability.
So what is the number one need right now for
Green Acres when it comes to affordability If you had
to pick one top thing.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Housing, Housing is the biggest thing. Housing is a fundamental
building block for people starting their lives and starting their careers.
And Green Acres was started or was founded to be
a city for the working class. Fortunately, I feel that
working class people are being priced out and as you
can see from that affordability part of my platform. Most
(05:09):
of the conversation there is talking about the housing issue
and different approaches, trying to attack it from sort of
off flanks and trying to make sure that working class
people can afford to live.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Is it maybe also as opposed to something happening on
a local level within the city or within the county.
Everybody wants to move to Florida because it doesn't matter
where you are in the state. People will tell you
they can't afford to rent, right, you know, is there
(05:40):
is there any what do you do tell people that
can't move here? I mean, how do you handle that?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Well? You know, there is definitely a lot of interest
in coming into Florida. But I will say pom Beach
County particularly is really being hit with the brunt of
the housing cost issue because I just directly, anecdotally know
people that have lived in Pombage County their whole lives
that have moved up north into state because those areas
are more affordable. But it really shouldn't have to be
(06:08):
in either or for people. People have to choose staying
where I grew up, or I have to or I'm
too poor to live in the place I grew up.
It's just not right, especially when you have these like
green ancres that was designed for them, and we're kind
of if those people are being priced out the majority
of the working class, we're failing at our mission. We're
(06:28):
not living up to our legacy of Elp Swayin, the
founder of the city. And really that's what this campaign
is all about. The city is turning one hundred years old.
I just want to live up to the original mission. Now,
how do we do that or why is Pombage County
getting in the front of it. It's likely because the
people that are mostly coming to Pombage County, frankly, the
(06:49):
sort of interest that be the people with power, let's say,
like county government or whatever. They're interested in bringing the
financial types, the rich folks, the Wall Street types, wall streets,
the concept that they talk about. You know, I'm not
interested in Wall Street. I'm interested in John Road and
Lake Worth Road and Melaluca and Billman, you know what
I mean. Like, these are my streets, and I want
(07:11):
to make sure that the people here can afford to live.
I want to make sure if there are new people here,
we attract them with more sustainable jobs, some blue collar
work from work that will pay, that you'll have long
term and consistent, that won't raise the prices for everybody around.
Because if we get like Patrick Bateman, all these Wall
Street guys from Move the Green Anchors, everybody else is
(07:32):
going to have to be it is gonna least because
when Wall Street people come, Wall Street prices come. Anyway,
it's a bit long, but I think you get my wife.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, Patrick Bateman actually from that, uh the movie with
Oh my God, the guy that played Batman in the
first three Dark Knight movies, Christian him Bale and American Psycho.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
That's what.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Patrick Bateman was from.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I guess I'm such a movie minded And as soon
as you said that, all right, So let's let's talk
about public safety. The Sheriff's office some years ago took
over the law enforcement services from the former Green Acres
Police Department, and one of your opponents I spoke to
about the public safety and she, you know, she had
(08:20):
said that she doesn't see deputies patrolling very often in
district too, like when and she said she's been in
the city for you know, over twenty years back when
there was a city PD. Yeah, what you know is
that do you share a similar thought about that is there?
I mean because I had asked her, how do you
how do you feel PbSO does with your with your
(08:42):
you know, law enforcement services, and that was her answer,
and she said, I'd want to see more patrols.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Well, you know, I'll be honest in my experience, but
I walk through the streets all the time. I I
walk more than I drive. I see the cops often
like I see them drive around pretty often. I see
the firefighters, I see the hospital folks, the e mts.
So I actually don't have too much of a concern
(09:11):
in terms of the number of patrols in terms of
just public safety in general. Certainly there's always room to
improve in public safety. I think at this point in
Green Acres we do actually have quite a strong force
in terms of like enforcing the law, you know, making
sure that if something happens, people will quickly respond. I
(09:34):
would say that the steps forward in terms of vettering
public safety is just kind of making sure that young
folks have opportunity off the streets. You know, they got
they got productive things to do, making suir community is strong,
which I think everybody that's running even my both of
my opponents are interested in as well, and especially me.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
With regard to public safety, just want more there these
I just had a thought and lake Worth had the
same issue. This is why they changed the name of
the city to Lakeworth Beach. One of the reasons was
to set itself apart from the unincorporated areas. There can
frequently be some violent crime going on in unincorporated areas,
(10:20):
say off of Forest Hill Boulevard, off of you know,
other roadways near Green Acres, but not in it. Do
you find that the city gets kind of tarnished by
that because people just automatically think, oh, that's Green Acres,
you know.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
I don't feel that the city gets tarnished as much.
I think Unfortunately with Green Acres there's not a lot
of news. Google Green Acres. The first thing you see
our shootings or crime occurred or whatever, and they can
have massive gaps like multiple months apart, multiple weeks apart.
It's just that there's barely any news that comes out
(10:58):
of here. But certainly if there is any violence, any
negative crime like that has to be addressed. It can't
just be that we just differentiate ourselves in the unincorporated area.
It has to be actually addressing those crimes. If that
means having a law enforcement kind of function, as you know,
the if something happens, that they respond, make sure they're
(11:20):
well funded, make sure they have all their needs, all
they need. We got to be sure to do that.
When it comes to the preventative side as well, we
have a massive role to play in that and in general,
in the direction we're going, I think we're going in
the right direction in terms of public safety. I walk
the streets and I feel quite safe. I walk it
at night and I feel safe. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Do you feel that the city council as it currently is,
the council members, including the one but not limited I
guess to the one in this district, the incumbent, do
you feel that they respond well to the community members
if somebody reaches out, you know it, is it kind
(12:06):
of an open door policy? And if and if not,
is that something that you would like to change.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
I think it's easy to reach them because we certainly
have like a pretty small scale political environment in Green Anchors.
So you could you could literally go to the meeting
and then after the meeting go and talk to your
council member and air out your concerns. My main issue is,
and I mentioned after my election, I continue to stay active, right,
(12:35):
and I've aired out a lot of concerns, But I'm
not just the complainer. I also propose solutions. I speak
often during the public comment, whether it's about housing, whether
it's about ice presence, or so on and so forth,
and I'll just say to be honest with you, because
people want directness. I don't feel responded to when I
(12:56):
go and speak on the issues. I've spoken about people
losing power for half a month, and I'll say I
was satisfied with one response that I got on the council,
not the rest, right, But like, I get the sense
that you can be a private citizen and trying to
do what you're supposed to do in a democracy and participate,
(13:17):
speak on the issues for those solutions, and then it's
gone in the wind. And I feel like that's not
particularly right. I think we need a more proactive government,
one that actually looks for the issues, one that doesn't
just have a majority of responses during Council member reports
being nothing to report. If you notice, on my platform
there's a part that says keep residents informed with a
(13:38):
real council member report every meeting, no exception. That's from
the direct experience multiple council members, but particularly my opponent.
The common thing during the council member reports is simply
saying nothing is a report. And if you only have
to show up two days a month and you have
nothing to report within those two weeks, it kind of
shows me it might not be in your job. So
(14:01):
I think there needs to be a bit of a
culture change in terms of Green Acres politics, one which
seeks out solutions and is willing to be open to them.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
All right, you touched on you just you mentioned something
regarding ice presence. Would you like to share your thoughts
on your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah, yeah, Well I know that I've heard a lot
of reports of ice in Linkworth Beach. I've heard reports
of ice in Wellington from folks directly in Wellington. And
I mentioned earlier how if you look at Green Acres
on like say Google News, there's rarely any news stories.
(14:42):
Like I said, we have a sort of sleepy political culture.
It's very low key. We don't have like a bunch
of activists here. But I knew in a city this diverse,
with as large of a Lazio population as we have,
ICE is certainly going to be here, and there was
recently confirmation with that with this nineteen year old marine.
(15:03):
Green Acre's resident serving this country went back home because
his father, who's been living here for years, no criminal record,
was and was in the process of trying to become
a citizen once kidnapped by ICE just kind of out
of nowhere and has been seprated. That was a nineteen
year old marine. Pretty much, if they could go after
(15:23):
our soldiers family, they can go after all of us.
So I remember seeing that on the news and I
just felt, and this is not me trying to make
myself seem great or noble, but I just felt, I
want to serve green Acres. I want to be on
the city council. I am obligated to reach out to
his family to see what I can do right. So
I called them. I tried to connect them with some
(15:44):
resources that I know in the immigration astasy space. They
had to go fund me, and I pushed to go
fund me to thousands of people through texts. They told
me that I was they had that they had reached
out to politicians and so on, and they had the
dollor slammed in their face multiple times. And that was
actually the only politician that tried to help them, and
(16:05):
certainly I was the only policies in that seeks them out.
So that's just one example when I know in Green
Acres there's got to be more. So what I was
saying to the city council on this issue, number one,
we got to make sure laws follow. If even a
federal agency is doing something wlawless, let's say, like not
giving their identity or whatever, we got to make sure
that they followed a law. It is what it is.
(16:27):
And number two, we got up for our community maybe
have a food bank for people in tough economic times.
Because in that family's case, their father was the breadwinner.
Their father was the main provider. So that's why they
started their going funding to make sure that they can
pay rent and pay for groceries. Right, And we could
just have like an area to the city hall dedicated
to just storing a bunch of spam or whatever among
(16:49):
other foods, but you know, affordable foods that we could
provide the struggling people in our community. That would at
least be a band aid on the wound that is
the ice presence in Bombach County.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
All right, we're going to wrap up with the question
I give all my candidate that you might remember from
four years ago, all my candidate interview interviewees in a nutshell,
three candidates running, including an incumbent. What makes you the
best choice?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yep. What makes me the best choice in my view
is a labor focused approach on issues of class and economics.
Is the fact that I am the only candidate with
the actual policy platform, not just priorities, and not just
listing off stuff that happened while I was serving for
(17:39):
thirty years or whatever might be. I'm saying specifically, I
want to make sure housing supply needs demand so that
costs go down. I want to say that I want
more options in terms of housing, public and private, make
sure that there's more competition. I'm saying that, if elected,
we are going to begin cutting medical debt, not by
(18:00):
raising taxes, but with a voluntary fund. Starting with my
first paycheck, about one thousand dollars from it to a
nonprofit Undo Medical Debt, which has worked with city and
county and states, and for every dollar they received, they
clear about one hundred dollars worth of debt. So my
one thousand is going to clear one hundred thousand dollars
worth of debt in the first year. I want to
(18:21):
be a yearly tradition. My point is the difference between
me and the other candidates' personality. It's not that I'm great,
it's the fact that I'm positive oriented. I'm thinking about
things that are materially going to change their lives with
people in this city. And I also the groups that
recognize that are the people that have endorsed me. I
have the most endorsements I have the AFLCIO, the CTA,
(18:43):
the IDW. The team serves forty seven unions total, and
I think that that's because they understand that we need
a change in our political culture. And I'm just in
Green Anchors, but in the nation one that puts workers first.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
All right, well, I appreciate you speaking to a more importantly,
of course, speaking to the residents of Green Acres. And
this is the council District two candidate one of three,
uh Nathan Galang. I believe on the ballot it's your
first full name, right, you don't you go by Nathan,
but it's Nathaniel, right, Is that what it is on
(19:18):
the ballot?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So yeah, yeah. Nathaniel de Lang, Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
I just want to make sure, you know, folks make
it as easy as possible that if they're going to
vote for you, they see your name properly. We appreciate
you joining us, Thanks sir coming on with me.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Thank you for the invitation. I like I like these interviews.
I love it.
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