Mt. Morris native appointed new Greene County elections director
Lemley to become sixth person to lead office since late 2020
Growing up in the Mt. Morris area, Joe Lemley enjoyed helping out at the local polling place in town during elections even before he could vote.
Lemley, who spent 25 years as a public school teacher and administrator, is now melding his passions for voting and public service as Greene County’s newest elections director.
“Knowing I have my hands on (running elections) to help people gets me going,” Lemley said. “Being a part of the citizenry is important to me.”
Lemley, 49, of Whiteley Township, was appointed by the Greene County commissioners earlier this month and started working Jan. 16.
He taught eighth-grade American history in Brentwood for a dozen years before serving as a school administrator at Chartiers-Houston High School for 13 years. Education runs deep in his family, with his father, David Lemley, teaching in Mt. Morris and later serving as a school administrator at Waynesburg-Central High School for 37 years.
The Waynesburg-Central grad wanted to move back closer to home to help care for his ailing father, so he decided to pursue a new career path a couple of years ago. He left education and returned to Greene County to open up a restaurant with his wife, Michelle, called M&J’s Tavern and Tap at Rohanna’s Golf Course in Franklin Township.
“The whole coming home for me had been to be closer to my family,” Lemley said. “Both of us left education to start anew and start something we knew everyone would enjoy or want.”
While the restaurant only lasted about a year, it gave Lemley a chance to spend more time with his father, who died on Christmas Day at age 86. But just weeks before that, Lemley saw firsthand the passion that his father had for voting and ensured he could get a mail-in ballot to participate in the past election.
That was made more difficult by two mix-ups ahead of the November election in which mistakes were made on the mail-in and absentee ballots sent to voters. Lemley knew “people were concerned about their ballots” after the various mishaps and decided that his background as an administrator meeting deadlines and answering to a board of directors could be an asset for the county. The office has had five different people hold the title of elections director since its longtime leader Tina Kiger left in August 2020, so Lemley hopes he can be a stabilizing presence ahead of this year’s presidential election that undoubtedly will have a large turnout.
“Being retired from education, I saw there had been some openings in the county level and I was kind of drawn to it,” Lemley said. “I knew this office needed some help so I put my application in.”
Greene County Chief Clerk Jeff Marshall said that experience was an asset when the commissioners decided to hire Lemley to serve as elections director.
“His decision making, his experience working with the public and administrating,” Marshall said. “Just the whole background he has.”
After being on the job for only a week, Lemley is jumping headfirst into learning the nuances of running an election and the numerous important dates and deadlines leading up to the actual voting. He’s also taken a keen interest in speaking directly to the voters to help educate them on their rights or ease their concerns.
Lemley said an 80-year-old woman called the office to say she had never missed an election, but she was concerned about whether her vote would count with the previous mail-in ballot problems. He was heartened by the woman’s passion and able to assure her that her vote would count. Another caller wanted help changing her party registration in order to run for office this year.
“I’m rooted in this community,” Lemley said. “I’m kind of back (home) and doing things I wanted to do as a kid.”
Lemley will be paid an annual salary of $55,000.