Brett Riffle, Delaware County Board of Elections election support specialist, is leaving the board to accept a position as Fairfield County’s BOE deputy director.
Riffle said he was waiting for the deputy director position for the Delaware board to post when he saw a posting for Fairfield County.
Josh Pedaline, the former deputy director, submitted his resignation Feb. 21 during an executive session of the board. His letter states he has “chosen to pursue other opportunities.”
“I said why not?” Riffle said. “I thought it would be a good interview experience. They called me on a Tuesday, interviewed me on a Wednesday and called me May 5 to offer me the job.”
Riffle said he has been with the board for a year and half, “something like 260- some days,” he said. “I’d like to stay here, but opportunity knocked and it only knocks once.”
Riffle said he expects his transition to the new board to be smooth.“They do things pretty much how we do here,” he said.
Riffle has starting building a relationship with his new board. He said he went to see the new voting machines that have been approved by the state with Fairfield County’s BOE director, Jane Hanley.
However, he admits he will miss working with the Delaware board. He said there is usually separation between work and home, but after working 21-hour days during elections, the staff has become family to him.
“This has been a great experience here,” he said. “I had a great teacher in Karla (Herron, director), a great board to work for and a great staff to work alongside. I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else.”
Riffle said some of the skills are in voter registration and absentee voting, “I know both of those processes very well.”
Riffle said he will also take with him some of the technological ideas used here, making communication easier and encouraging voters and candidates to lean on the board.
“Our intention is to never keep anyone off the ballot,” he said. “I hope to take all that stuff with me.”
However, before Riffle settles into his new position, Sunday he is getting married and then off for a month long honeymoon in Europe. He said when he gets back he’ll have to hit the ground running at his new job.
Riffle is originally from Cardington, Ohio. He attended Ohio Wesleyan University, where he studied government and politics with the intention of going to law school. “Law school was cost-prohibitive,” he said. “I already had too much debt.”
Riffle got his start at the Delaware BOE when a friend informed him about the position at the board. “He said you would be perfect for it,” Riffle said. “I applied for the job and have been here ever since.”
