YOUNGSTOWN Squire to seek mayor's office

The attorney and McKelvey have clashed before.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- That elusive black candidate for mayor may have been found -- in Columbus.
Percy Squire, a Columbus attorney who grew up in Youngstown, has taken out nominating petitions to run for Youngstown mayor as an independent and has changed his voting address from Columbus to his parents' home on Kiwatha Road on the city's South Side.
He could not be reached late this morning, but Mahoning County Board of Elections officials said Squire visited their office late last week, first inquiring about a possible write-in candidacy as a Democrat or Republican in the May 8 primary.
He was told because there were no Republican mayoral candidates, he could not run as a write-in for that party's nomination for mayor, but he could run in the Democratic primary.
Instead, Squire opted to take out nominating petitions as an independent candidate for the Nov. 6 general election.
Independents have until May 7 to file. The deadline to run as a write-in candidate in the primary is Monday.
The city charter says all mayoral candidates "shall have been an elector of the city for five years." It does not state if those five years have to be the previous five years before running for mayor.
Mayor George M. McKelvey, a Democrat, is seeking re-election to his second and last four-year term. Donald P. Connelly is his only competition to date, as a write-in candidate in the primary.
Black candidate: There has been talk of a black candidate to challenge McKelvey in the primary in this Democratic-dominated city with a black population of about 40 percent, but none filed by the Feb. 22 deadline.
The Youngstown Chapter of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, which includes the city's four black councilmen, is already on record endorsing McKelvey in the May 8 primary.
Squire is popular in Youngstown, speaking at numerous dinners and representing clients in local courts, even though he has lived in Columbus for a number of years. His wife, Carol, was just elected in November as a Franklin County juvenile court judge.
The last time Squire made local news was in September when he was fined $1,500 and forced to apologize to Judge R. Scott Krichbaum, who was considering holding him in contempt of court. Judge Krichbaum said Squire failed to immediately follow a court order in a lawsuit.
1994 election: This also wouldn't be the first go-round between McKelvey and Squire.
Squire led a 1994 attempt to remove McKelvey as a candidate for state treasurer. McKelvey was not elected to the position.
Squire contended at the time that McKelvey engaged in election fraud by not personally witnessing all the signatures on petitions he circulated. Then-Secretary of State Bob Taft threw out the complaint, citing insufficient evidence.