Name: Guido Nardini

What office are you seeking: DuPage County Board District 2

What is your political party?

What is your current age? 53

Occupation and employer: Owner/operator, Club Lago restaurant. Lago inc.

What offices, if any, have you previously held? 6th Ward Alderman, Elmhurst IL

City: Elmhurst

Campaign website: https://www.guidonardini.com/

Education: BA, UIUC Anthropology

Supporting Coursework, Harvard University

Community involvement: Elmhurst Eagles. Election Judge. Jackson Elementary School Fundraising. Homes for a Changing Region working group-Metropolitan Mayors Caucus.

Marital status/Immediate family: Married. Two stinky high school aged boys.

What are your top three priorities for this district?

My experience on the Elmhurst City Council has shown me that effective government depends on communication with elected officials and neighbors. One of my top priorities is building productive working relationships with the mayors and managers throughout the district so county and municipal governments work in concert.

Second, accountability is the foundation of this office. Constituents deserve responsiveness and transparency—every call returned, every text answered, and every email acknowledged. Public service begins and ends with accountability to the voters of DuPage County.

Third, we must prepare for an uncertain future. With an increasingly unpredictable federal government, DuPage County needs initiatives that are flexible and pragmatic, allowing us to respond responsibly to changing conditions.

Should the DuPage County Board further explore pursuing home-rule authority?

Currently, Cook County is the only home-rule county in Illinois. It is true that recent transit funding debates would have been simpler if DuPage had home-rule protections. However, in a county already facing an affordability crisis, the perception of home rule is that it would inevitably lead to higher taxes.

Without broad consensus from the full County Board—and without more predictability from the federal government—pursuing home-rule authority at this time would send the wrong message to residents. Under current conditions, I do not believe it is the appropriate path forward.

What steps should the county take to continue its efforts to meet affordable housing needs?

We are in a full-scale affordability crisis, and housing is one of its primary drivers. I see it in my business in produce and beef, and I experience it at home through higher water rates and grocery bills. Every DuPage resident deserves access to a safe, affordable place to live.

To address this crisis, the county must focus on increasing housing supply, expanding affordable housing programs, and reducing regulatory barriers that drive up costs. The notion that a young family can purchase a modest home with a manageable mortgage near their workplace, that ship has sailed. Our policies must reflect today’s reality and plan for future generations.

There are three specific areas where the county should act. First, the area median income (AMI) thresholds for first-time homebuyer assistance must be raised. Existing programs can help families put down roots in DuPage, but AMI limits currently prevent many working households from qualifying.

Second, we must actively support the development of “Missing Middle” housing—the range of housing between single-family homes and high-rise buildings—through financial incentives and state or federal grants.

Third, we need to broaden how we define affordable housing. Affordable housing should not be synonymous with Section 8 alone; it should include well-designed, multi-unit housing that allows people to live near where they work and supports income-diverse, economically healthy communities.

What additional steps should the county take to assist social service agencies in their efforts to reduce food insecurity and homelessness?

Food insecurity has been significantly worsened by recent federal actions, including tighter restrictions on veterans’ access to food assistance and cuts to food pantry funding. These changes have created a perfect storm for local service providers.

In its most recent budget, DuPage County reallocated funds to organizations such as Loaves & Fishes and other food banks that have seen a sharp increase in demand due to federal aid reductions. This type of targeted, responsive support must continue.

Addressing homelessness is a core county responsibility. DuPagePads’ Red Roof Inn Interim Housing Program has served as a critical winter shelter, but interim housing is only one step. The County must focus on programs that move individuals from the street, into temporary housing, and then into stable, long-term solutions such as rental assistance or first-time homebuyer programs. Where federal support falls short, public-private partnerships can help fill the gap.

What goals, specifically, would you like to see the Sustainable DuPage initiative achieve?

It’s important to understand the Stainable DuPage Initiative exists precisely because we must plan for uncertainty. It is our best tool to remain nimble, planning for a time when federal support is inconsistent. It’s hard to announce a specific allocation because flexibility is its core purpose. It should address food insecurity, housing issues or whatever department gets cut tomorrow. Should no more urgent demand present itself, funds should be directed toward long-term investments such as land banking and the preservation or expansion of Missing Middle housing, both in unincorporated DuPage and within municipalities.

In what ways can the county continue to improve its transportation initiatives?

After Covid, public transit ridership was down and operating costs were up, creating a statewide annual shortfall of approximately $800 million. The General Assembly made clear it would not address this funding gap without structural reform and asked the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning to develop both a reform framework and a funding roadmap. That process resulted in Senate Bill 2111, a $1.5 billion reform and investment package passed in last year’s veto session.

The legislation dissolves the Regional Transportation Authority and creates the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA). Metra, Pace, and the CTA now operate as service boards accountable to NITA. Increased service is the good news, but what that increased service looks like remains to be seen. We need a data driven approach to address transit deserts and how to make sure everybody can get to work and to College of DuPage and how, in general, public transit can serve more people.

DuPage County will appoint one of the 20 members of the NITA board, and that appointment represents our leverage. I believe that appointee should be an experienced transit professional capable of addressing operational overlap among Pace, Metra, and the CTA.

Another reform opportunity is that the dial-a-ride services like Ride DuPage are funded with an inefficient mix of county, municipal and Township government. I’m excited about the housekeeping task of putting that burden in one centralized budget fund.

What improvements/changes do you support within the DuPage County Sheriff’s office, including protocols at the correctional facility?

The County Board and the Sheriff’s Department must work together to care for all residents, including those who are incarcerated. We need to do more for people in our correctional facilities with mental health issues, especially those not fit to stand trial. There should be no waitlists for beds. Until individuals are able to stand trial, it is the County’s responsibility to provide safe, humane care within our own system rather than outsourcing that obligation.

The future of AI demands data centers.Done gracefully, this could the economic engine of our time. Just like a private football stadium built with public funds, however, the County needs to make sure the public resources don’t generate only private profits. Economic investment in the County is a win if it is balanced with the needs of our constituents. DuPagers cannot be left holding the bag. It is a misconception that the construction of a local data center will increase energy costs and drain local water supplies. The construction of a data center as far away as Virginia will increase our energy costs and data centers have gone beyond the wasteful water cooled units of the past. As their development is inevitable AND other states’ actions will affect our energy costs, making sure they bring appropriate local utility and property taxes is essential.

What is your stance on solar energy facilities or data centers on agricultural land? Does the risk of lawsuits factor into your stance? What about battery storage?

The technology of solar and battery storage is a different issue but equally inevitable. The future of AI demands data centers and data centers demand energy. What kind and how that energy comes online remains to be seen. We could rely solely on yesterday’s fossil fuels or we could integrate renewables to our local mix. Combined cycle gas turbines have gotten orders of magnitude more expensive since Covid and solar and battery infrastructure has gotten cheaper. What’s more, solar energy offers long term land leases that generate more revenue for farmers than crop growing. Solar tech is a good diversification of our economic base and make our grid more robust. They are virtual power plants that come online instantly.

Finally, the county must protect itself against financial and legal risk. Whether through independent reserve funds or contractual safeguards, we must plan for potential project failures or bankruptcies.ComEd’s proposed Transmission Service Agreement is one such safeguard. It guarantees the developer of a data center who supplies to ComEd must pay for any promised infrastructure they fail to bring online. The County must engage in active oversight on this, as with any new land use,to ensure risks are anticipated and benefits are shared.