Lorain Law Director Pat Riley is seeking to retain his job as he announced he’s running for re-election in Jan. 17 news release.
Riley has been in the job since 2009 when he was picked by city Democrats to finish out the term of the law director Mark Provenza, who resigned following “a drunken driving conviction, serving jail time and violating terms of his probation” according to earlier reporting in The Morning Journal. City Democrats in April 2009 not only selected Riley to replace Provenza as law director; they also selected him to take Proevenza’s spot on that November ballot.
Riley defeated Mike Scherach in that 2009 election and has remained in office since.
If Riley were to win re-election it would be for a four-year term commencing on Jan. 1, 2024.
In his announcement, Riley noted his office plays a “critical role” in the day-to-day affairs of the city. That role includes prosecuting crimes, writing and reviewing legislation for the city council, enforcement of housing laws, defending the city in lawsuits and administering contracts.
He also pointed to improvements he’s made to the office. Those include establishing a Crime Victim Advocacy Program which aids victims of crime and the creation of a legal intern program run in partnership with area law schools.
“The work of the Lorain Law Department has resulted in recovering millions of taxpayers’ dollars in closing nuisance properties, including motels housing illegal drugs sales and prostitution and slum landlord properties,” Riley said.
Councilman-at-Large Mitchell Fallis said that he believes Riley has done a good job in office. He said often times Riley acts more as a chief operating officer of the city bringing together different city departments to solve problems.
“He can bring them to the table and talk through it,” Fallis said. “He does a really good job of that.”
There have been rumblings in Lorain City Hall that Riley, who serves in a part-time capacity, does not move quickly enough on contracts or other city business. Some council members who have worked for the city before being elected or served as elected officials when Provenza was law director noted that Provenza treated the office as a full-time job and was always available.
Fallis, who served on council when Provenza served as law director, said Riley does a good enough job delegating work to his staff that even though he’s not always in the office, the work gets done in a timely manner.
“I would say he does a really good job of managing the legal affairs of the city,” Fallis said.
If a legal issue pops up that Riley can’t handle, Fallis noted, he has contacts in the legal community that allow him to farm that work out to provide the city the best legal advice and service possible.
“If he doesn’t have the capacity or expertise…he’ll engage lawyers to work on the city’s behalf,” Fallis said.
