Dore to become mayor’s chief of staff

Lorain’s former fire chief and safety director will return to Mayor Chase Ritenauer’s administration at City Hall.

Phil Dore will become the new deputy safety/service director — chief of staff starting Nov. 6.

Dore, 64, will succeed former Chief of Staff Derek Feuerstein, who left to become city manager of Rittman.

“The bottom line for me is, with the number of projects we have going on right now, where we’re at staffing-wise, I felt we needed an experienced hand, somebody who understands the city, who on day one can get to work,” Ritenauer said.

Before his election, Ritenauer worked with

when Ritenauer was a deputy safety-service director under Mayor Tony Krasienko.

Dore is a hard worker who understands City Hall and knows many of the elected officials and department heads, Ritenauer said.

“I needed somebody to jump in immediately,” he said. “We have so many projects going that are really exciting, they’re close to the finish line, but I need somebody to help me punch them over.”

Dore is no stranger to public life in Lorain.

Starting in 1975, Dore worked 30 years for the Lorain Fire Department, where he served as chief from 1999 to 2004.

From 2008 to 2011, he was director of public safety for Krasienko.

Between those public appointments, Dore worked in private industry in residential construction management. He also has served as a volunteer member of the board of trustees for the Lorain Public Library System.

In recent years, Dore has worked as a field investigator for the Lorain Treasurer’s Office and for taxation for the city of Avon.

The Krasienko administration and Council faced tough times due to budgetary difficulties from 2008 to 2011, Dore said.

“But I got a ton of job satisfaction going to work every day,” trying to make Lorain a better place, he said.

“Lorain is not just where I live, it’s my hometown,” Dore said.

He said he looks forward to that feeling again and a return on his efforts working for the city.

The chief of staff tends to work as a liaison between the mayor’s office and community groups and residents.

Usually, the chief of staff position does not get as much public attention as the mayor and safety-service director.

Even so, Dore noted many citizens saw Feuerstein work hard to address their concerns.

“We as citizens of Lorain relied on Derek a lot when we felt like we had things that needed to be taken care of,” Dore said. “He really performed. He was a heck of a city hall worker.”

He said he hopes to emulate that hard work and get opportunities to accomplish things in Lorain.

Dore will step down from his work with the Lorain and Avon income tax investigations.

Over the years, Dore’s wife, Renee, also has received public attention as she worked with the Charleston Village Society Inc. to address issues in Lorain.

The nonprofit group advocates for neighborhood and historical preservation of Lorain’s oldest area, known as Charleston, founded in 1834.

Incidentally, Feuerstein’s former office on the seventh floor of City Hall was the same one where Dore worked in the previous administration, and where he will return to the duties, Ritenauer said.