OGDEN, Utah — Jon Greiner's resume is topped by having worked for the city Ogden for 43 years, 38 of those at the police department where he was been police chief for 16 years. He has also served in the Army reserve, and worked as the Ogden airport manager for 5 years, along with serving a 4-year term as a Utah state senator.
Now, Greiner is running to be Ogden city mayor.
“It would mean a way to finally finish my working career in the city that I love and give back one more time to the place I’ve lived for 70 years,” he said.
Back in 2011, Greiner was terminated by the city from his role of Ogden police chief when the city had to choose between keeping Greiner or losing thousands of dollars. While he was chief, Greiner ran for state senate with the Merit System Protection Board ruling he violated the Hatch Act for holding a municipal position that oversees federal dollars, and running for state senate at the same time. But now, that rule has changed.
“Non-partisan people, Republican and Democrat agreed that the law was being misapplied. We even had the director of the special office of counsel testify on our behalf and so they crafted a law, sent it to President Obama, he signed it, and now, a state or local official is not covered by the hatch act unless they receive at least 50% of their salary from federal grants,” said Greiner.
His priorities, if he were to be elected, include taking a look at the tax structure in Ogden and other ways to improve quality of life in the city.
“Infrastructure – we’ve delayed fixing things in this city for years, and to engage the community and our youth because the youth aRe the most important thing of our future and we need to do everything we can to get them ready for the rest of their lives,” Greiner said
The Ogden primary election for the mayoral seat is already underway. It’s an open seat with 7 candidates vying for the spot. The current mayor of Ogden city, Mike Caldwell, announced earlier this year that he would not run for re-election after this third term.
Every active voter in Ogden receives a ballot in the mail and all are eligible to vote in the mayoral race. The top two candidates from the primary election on Sept. 5, will face off in the general election on Nov. 21.
Ballots have already been sent out, so you can cast your votes by or on election day, which is September 5. You can verify your voter registration, view a sample ballot and learn more about all the candidates at vote.utah.gov
You can vote in person at the Weber Center from Aug 29 to Sept 1 from 12pm to 6 pm and on election day from 7 am to 8 pm.
You can also drop off your ballot at secure drop boxes 24/7 located at every city office, the county library, in the Weber Center parking lot and at Weber State.
