GREENBERG: NEW INYO CAO
During its closed session on Tuesday, the Inyo County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to appoint Nathan (Nate) Greenberg to the position of Inyo County Administrative Officer (CAO).
Greenberg has been involved in county government for over twenty years. Most people in the community will recognize him as the current Information Technology (IT) Director for Mono County, a position that he has held for a little over a decade.
During his time as IT Director, Greenberg helped to manage and facilitate the implementation of Digital 395 for about three years, a project described as a “digital backbone operating as a carrier-neutral, open-access network to which any service provider can interconnect on a non-discriminatory, equal basis.” Through this, Greenberg helped to bring broadband access to more than 90% of households in Mono County. Before being Mono County IT Director, Greenberg served as Mono County’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Coordinator for about 10 years.
On his new role as Inyo CAO, Greenberg told The Sheet, “I think it’s an awesome opportunity to be able to work with a great team down in Inyo County and get to leverage a lot of skills and knowledge that I’ve developed over the years and apply them to a new set of challenges to help that agency further its causes.”
Some of the causes Greenberg hopes to support include improving Inyo County’s relationship with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. “Some of the largest, immediate challenges that Inyo County is faced with is its long-standing relationship around land and water with Los Angeles,” said Greenberg. “I want to help continue to develop and improve the relationship between Inyo County and L.A., with the hope being that ultimately we can find common ground around the needs that each of our agencies have.”
Greenberg also looks forward to bringing his valuable knowledge surrounding technology to the table. “Broadband is a large priority for the county, and will be a pretty significant initiative that I will help with down there,” he said. “Another big focus will be continued expansion of air service and trying to get the Bishop Airport to a good, stable operating position. And housing is certainly something that we will need to contend with both regionally and specifically in Inyo.”
Greenberg hopes to be able to leverage the relationships that he’s developed over his years in county government in order to make the biggest impact possible as CAO. Through this, he imagines bringing a “new, unique perspective to the conversations being had at the county level.”
Sheet: Why did you choose to leave IT and go more towards an administrative role?
Greenberg: Well I think it’s important to recognize that my role in IT is not first and foremost about technology. It’s first and foremost about people and process, and leveraging technology to improve efficiency, business operations, and service the constituents. A lot of the initiatives we work on are public-facing efforts. Things like broadband have done a tremendous amount of work in public safety, disaster response, emergency management, and communications. Technology may be the underpinning of a lot of those conversations, but they are high-level conversations. So my interests have always been first around providing quality government services to our constituents, and ultimately technology has been an enabler in those conversations, but not the primary thing that has brought me to work every day.
His position as CAO has no set end date. His official start date is September 2, providing time for him to work alongside current Inyo CAO Leslie Chapman to learn the ropes of the job.
Greenberg is an avid backcountry skier, climber and road biker, and enjoys spending his free time roaming Inyo County’s beautiful terrain. He has earned statewide and national accolades for his work in digital technology, and is excited to bring all that he has learned through his years as a public servant to improve government function for Inyo County.
