Fostoria's Loreno to retire

Keith Loreno became more than a police chief for Fostoria Mayor Eric Keckler, said. "He's been such a loyal guy for me and a guy I've turned to for advice a lot of times to give it to me straight and help me resolve issues," Keckler said. "I hoped he would stay for a long a long time with me here." Loreno, however, has turned in his retirement papers, with his final day as chief set for July 6, Keckler said Friday. Keckler noted that Loreno, 57, has had health issues lately but otherwise deferred to Loreno to speak on why he was stepping away from his position. Loreno declined to comment Friday. A committee will be convened to seek a successor to Loreno, Keckler said. Loreno is in his eighth year as Fostoria's police chief after having been the city's fire chief for nearly four years. When he was first elected mayor in 2012, Keckler inherited someone who became a trusted advisor. "When I've had problems that I've had trouble solving or gotten stuck on, I'd go to Keith a lot of times and bounce things off of him and we'd come up with a solution," Keckler said. "He's been my go-to guy for the last 10 years." Loreno latched on with the city as fire chief after the retirement of Russ Rife. Loreno had previously been an assistant chief in the State Fire Marsha's Office for more than 16 years. Keckler said Loreno had been involved in investigating a series of arson cases in Fostoria. "We knew he was a great investigator when he was with the state of Ohio," Keckler said. "When he got over here, to the police department, he really hit his stride and he's made such a difference in our department, with training and community outreach and all that kind of stuff. It's just huge. So, he's going to be a tough guy to replace." Before joining the State Fire Marshal's Office, Loreno was a sergeant in the Sycamore Police Department and a fire prevention officer at Ohio State University. Keckler said the city charter mandates that the search committee for Loreno's successor includes a member of city council, a member of the city's Civil Service Commission, an attorney, a high-ranking police officer and a person chosen from the community. The selection is then subject to city council's approval. The deadline for applicants will be June 15. "Hopefully we'll get someone in here in time that they're able to work with Keith for a little bit before he leaves," Keckler said. "... It's a pretty tight schedule. I don't know if we can pull it off or not. That's what we're shooting for, but we certainly won't rush it because we're going to want to find the right candidate to fill those shoes, and it's not going to be easy."