By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
This story originally ran in the October 24 edition of the Three Rivers Commercial-News.
THREE RIVERS — Nathan Walden has faced a lot of adversity in his 43 years of life.
At age 16, he was paralyzed due to having a spinal aneurysm explode, and had lived in a juvenile home for a bit in his younger years. Later on, due to bad infections in his legs due to an illness, both of his legs were amputated.
Through it all, the 43-year-old Walden has still kept a positive attitude and a fighting spirit that he hopes to translate into becoming the next mayor of Three Rivers.
“I’ve gone my whole life fighting for my life. I think that I am finally in a spot where I can fight for Three Rivers and to make Three Rivers better,” Walden said. “My goal is to make Three Rivers better, and that’s all I want to do.”
Walden is the lone write-in candidate in what is a field of three for the mayoral seat in Three Rivers, joining incumbent Tom Lowry and challenger Angel Johnston, whose names are already on the ballot. He said he has been interested in politics for quite a while and had been considering a mayoral run in 2027, and still is. However, one mentality of his was the big reason for him filing so late in the process for the 2025 election.
“I thought, you know, yeah, don’t wait until tomorrow, just do it today. Get it done and get it over with and take that chance,” Walden said. “And that’s really what this is. It’s not waiting until tomorrow, it’s doing it today.”
The majority of Walden’s ideas for what he hopes to do if elected seem to scale moreso toward the grandiose and ambitious, with possible questions of practicality. One of the tentpoles of his platform is levying a 16 percent “franchise tax” on the profits of what he called “big chains,” such as Meijer, Walmart and McDonald’s, which he defines as businesses that have more than five franchises across the country.
While there are questions about the legality of whether a city such as Three Rivers can levy such a tax, Walden said the biggest issue he foresees with such an idea is the possible backlash from said “big chains” and possible threats of leaving the city.
“I don’t think it’s a large concern, but I do think it’s a little bit of a concern,” Walden said. “But it’s like a little tiny piece of a cookie in a big ol’ cookie. It’s a dent, but I don’t think it’s going to be enough where it’s going to grab their attention and say, we have to immediately do something about this.”
Walden said the city could use the money from said franchise tax – which he personally estimated to be $1.2 million per year based on what he said is “the numbers that Walmart sells for their profit, McDonald’s sells for their profit” – to help fund lead pipe replacements in the city, something he said is “just not getting done as fast as what I think Three Rivers would like.”
“Everybody wants clean water, and I’ve lived here for 43 years, and we’ve always had a problem with water. And I’m not saying they’re not trying to do anything, but it’s just taking forever,” Walden said. “And I think that there’s ways to speed up that process and get it done faster for the people. … Three Rivers, they try, but the budget is short. They need more money so that they can get the project done faster. They’re on the way to getting it done, but it’s just not getting done as fast as what I think Three Rivers would like.”
Most of his ideas, such as the franchise tax, he said are in the service of bringing in more revenue to the city while also proposing a 10 percent utility rate cut for residents, a 0.5 to 1-mill cut in property taxes, and reducing or eliminating certain, in his words, “ridiculous” permits and/or permit fees. He said he would want to go through the permits that are currently in the city and find out what permits “aren’t really necessary and are just there for nothing.”
Some of the “ridiculous” permits Walden mentioned as examples are permits for ramps, electric and plumbing.
“They’re there for money, but they’re just not helping the community, the people who are really low-income,” Walden said.
Another major portion of Walden’s platform is bringing a casino to Three Rivers, with his proposal involving leasing property next door to the Dr. Haines Municipal Airport for that purpose and discussing such an idea with the Pokagon tribe, who own Four Winds Casino. However, the site he has publicly stated would be the spot for such a casino – with M-60 to the south and east, the airport to the west and North Airport Road to the north – is directly next to one of the runways at the airport, with over one-fourth of the land residing in Lockport Township.
Walden, however, wasn’t too concerned that there would be practicality issues with the plan, especially when it comes to height restrictions around airports and attempting to talk with Lockport Township regarding the land (“I guess I would have to mend that [relationship] and make it better,” Walden said of speaking with Lockport Township.) But he said it would have to be something to bring up with the city commission if he’s elected.
“From the research I’ve done, it shouldn’t be a problem with affecting the airport at all. But it would be best if I’d be able to sit down with the council and we’d go over everything and figure it out and find out if that is the best spot,” Walden said. “As long as we all have a meeting and we put our heads together, we can just figure this out and figure out what’s best to go forward for Three Rivers.”
Walden’s platform also includes some tourism initiatives, including what he calls a “beach and dam revival” at Memory Isle Park, saying that he wants to bring back a beach that had once been at the park several decades ago at the area of the park behind City Hall, and put in a “tiny dam” to help “regulate the water situation.”
“When I was a kid, I used to go there all the time. And I just want to bring that back and revitalize that,” Walden said. “But the water situation there is low, so if we put a tiny little dam right there where we can regulate the water situation for the flow up in the river, we can get it to where the beach is swimmable and we can redo the beach. That is going to bring tourism and that’s going to give things for families to do.”
Other ideas Walden has include building “affordable townhomes” on Black Cat Alley/Water Street from Joshua Drive to Hoffman Street, giving $100,000 grants to homeowners and business owners for fixing up homes and businesses, putting in more yield signs and speed cameras on 38 roads, bringing in more factories to the Enterprise Industrial Park on the south side of the city, creating a “memorial park” in Lowry’s name, and moving the Water Festival from Memory Isle Park to the area of Three Rivers Middle School and Three Rivers High School.
Even if he doesn’t garner many votes as a write-in, he said he’s also running as a bit of a learning experience for the future. He noted that if he is not elected, he is looking to join the city’s Streets and Sidewalks Committee to get more of a feel for city government.
“I’ve never done it before, and this gives me a chance to figure it out and figure out how to do it and do it right. And I’m not giving up,” Walden said on his candidacy. “I know it’s a long chance for me this time, but I will be on the ballot in 2027, and I’m not giving up on Three Rivers.”
Overall, he said the reason he feels people should write in his name is if they want a change and “something different” in local government.
“People should choose me for a change, for something different, for somebody who wants to make a difference, for somebody who wants to stand up for everybody, not just the big people,” Walden said. “I want to unite everybody. We all deserve something better, and as mayor, I will thrive, and I will give 100 percent to make things better.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
