By Casey Jarmes | The News-Review
PACKWOOD – John Joseph “J.J.” Greiner, a farmer and the current president of the Pekin School Board, is running for reelection to the District 5 (Pekin) seat. Greiner was elected to fill a vacancy on the board in 2019 and reelected in 2021.
“I just thought at the time that I was real passionate about our school, and always had Panther pride, and somebody was stepping down, and I just decided that it was time to put myself out there and get back to the community,” Greiner told the News-Review.
Greiner has lived in the area his entire life and graduated from Pekin in 2008. He drove a concrete truck for a while and now works on the family farm. He has two children who attend Pekin, one freshman and one second-grader.
In Greiner’s time with the board, he worked through the COVID-19 pandemic, replaced roofs, replaced bleachers at the football field, and implemented state policies banning cell phones. If reelected, he wants to work on remodeling the elementary school. Greiner stated that this project has been worked on for years and that the board is trying to find the best way to remodel the school without costing taxpayers “an arm and a leg.” He stated that they were hoping to begin the remodel in the next year or so. He noted that enrollment is always a concern for small districts like Pekin and that they were working to get it higher.
“I have not heard of any problems this year,” Greiner said. “You know, we feel that we have a strong team this year. Our administrative team is great to work with. We have a couple new hires. And so far, things are running smoothly, and I expect that to continue. As of right now, I don’t see any problems.”
