After having served the Ames and ISU community in the state legislature since January 2000, Rep. Jane Greimann, D-Ames, has decided she will not seek re-election to a fourth term.

Greimann said more people should have a chance to serve and said she wants younger people to get involved.

“It’s kind of like a revolving door … people are supposed to come in and out,” she said. “You’ve got to let your seat go so others can come in.”

Greimann said she has enjoyed the time she has spent at the Capitol and has become close to her colleagues.

“It’s a very crowded environment, so we all became a family very quickly. Sitting shoulder to shoulder 12 hours a day, four days a week will do that for you,” she said.

Rep. Jim Kurtenbach, R-Nevada, said he has known Greimann for most of her time as a state representative and considers her a friend.

“We’re in different parties, but that doesn’t prevent us from enjoying each other’s company,” he said. “When it comes to politics, we just agree to disagree.”

As a member of the minority party every year she was in office, Greimann said her job was to point out needs that weren’t being met and come up with different ways of doing business.

But being a Democrat in a House full of Republicans sometimes meant she couldn’t present some things she wanted to the legislature.

“It would be more fun to be in the majority,” she said. “Then I could move my bills through the House.”

Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco said he appreciated Greimann’s extensive knowledge about education at all levels and her support of local government. He said she also supported legislation to let cities make their own decisions on smoking ordinances.

“It’s disappointing — at least to me — that she’s not running again,” he said.

After she retires from the legislature, Greimann said she will probably volunteer with a non-profit group within Iowa.

She said she also looks forward to engaging more in church work at Collegiate Presbyterian Church, 159 Sheldon Ave., and in work with the League of Women Voters, of which she has been a member since she was 29 years old.

Greimann anticipates it won’t be easy to leave her experiences behind her.

“I’m sure I’ll have the bends; it’ll be like going through decompression,” she said.

“I’ll probably get curious and have to come down and see what’s going on.”