Island County Treasurer Linda Riffe will seek a second term in office. If she wins, she’s certain her second term will begin more smoothly than her first one did.

Riffe, a Democrat, unseated the late Republican Maxine Sauter for the position in 2002, after Sauter came under fire from the State Auditor’s Office for some of her management practices. Riffe took advantage of the controversy to win in her first run at elective office after having been in public education for many years, culminating in a vice principal job at Oak Harbor High School.

“There were huge challenges,” Riffe said of what faced her when she first took office. The state auditor’s finding of “lack of internal controls” had to be cleared up, a process which took time.

“Things are looking pretty good now,” Riffe said.

Her list of accomplishments includes installing new internal controls on money that comes into the Treasurer’s Office, as well as writing her department’s Web site, improving information sent with tax statements, making taxes easier to pay with outside drop boxes, implementing online tax payments, and various other office and bookkeeping improvements.

A top priority for a second term is further technology improvements to improve communications between county departments. Riffe said the Auditor’s Office, for example, is using a computer program from 1984.

Riffe takes pride in her decision to “farm out” the preparation of tax statements to a private business, which she said saved money. “It increased productivity,” she said. “We don’t fold and stuff 55,000 tax statements any more.”

Riffe has no announced opponent in the November election from either party, although the filing period isn’t until the last week of July. She’d like it to remain that way. “I’ve earned the people’s trust,” she said. “I’d like to move forward.”