Outgoing County Commissioner Greg Koenig has high praise for Churchill County employees and their ability to work together to address issues affecting residents.
“No one shirks from duty and all work together as a whole toward a common county goal,” he said citing the county’s COVID response as a prime example of addressing an unknown problem with a “can-do” attitude.
Koenig said the COVID response, the building of the Rafter 3C Arena and the creation of the Central Nevada Health District stand out as the most significant accomplishments during his two years on the commission.
He added that he has enjoyed collaborating with fellow Commissioners Pete Olsen and Justin Heath and considers both as friends. “We were most always on the same page and worked well together for the good of the county without personal agendas interfering.”
Koenig said one of the challenges during his time on the commission was balancing the need for planned growth and development with the wishes of concerned residents in areas where growth is proposed.
As he looks forward to his time in the State Assembly, he said his background on the Churchill County School Board of Trustees, his profession as an optometrist and his time as a commissioner have prepared him well to serve on the committees he has been assigned: education, health and human services and government affairs.
“Being a commissioner has prepared me for the Assembly because I came from the ground up and I’ve seen how unfunded mandates affect local government and residents and that experience allows me to tie it all together,” he said.
While his experience at the county level will give him a leg up at the state level, Koenig acknowledges that it will take a considerable effort at relationship building in the State Assembly, and a fair amount of compromise to ensure his initiatives get passed. He said he would keep at his relationship building efforts and support others with the hope that they will support him.
Even as he splits his time between Fallon and Carson City during the legislative sessions, Koenig’s heart remains in Churchill County. He is a third-generation family graduate of Churchill County High. His three children and one grandson continue the family tradition as the fourth and fifth generations to attend school here.
Koenig and his business partner Carl Robertson have owned and operated Robertson and Koenig Optometry in Fallon since the mid-1990s.