Wednesday, March 16, 2005
This will be the mayor's second visit to the White House.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mayor George M. McKelvey's Irish eyes will be smiling when he spends a portion of St. Patrick's Day with President Bush.
McKelvey said he received an invitation to a 10:30 a.m. Thursday event at the White House with the president.
McKelvey said a White House staffer who telephoned him "categorized it as a St. Patrick's gathering."
Allen Abney, a White House spokesman, said the president and invited guests would participate in a shamrock ceremony to commemorate St. Patrick's Day.
The mayor was to leave today for Washington, D.C. McKelvey plans to wear a green tie to the event.
McKelvey said he's not a shy guy and would attempt to spend a few minutes talking to Bush. McKelvey said he also hopes to eat lunch with the president.
Base closures
If he can get the president's ear, McKelvey said he plans to discuss the importance of keeping the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna off the Base Realignment and Closure list.
The federal government plans to close as many as 25 percent of its 425 stateside military bases as a cost-cutting measure.
The Vienna base is the fifth largest employer in the Mahoning Valley with more than 2,400 reservists. It puts more than $100 million annually into the local economy.
"I'll be vocal and keep an eye out for our air base," McKelvey said. "We better be talking to everyone we can. Only good things can come out of this."
This will not be McKelvey's first visit to the Bush White House.
McKelvey attended a private dinner at the White House with the president in May 2004. McKelvey endorsed Bush in August 2004, a move that received national media attention.
The endorsement was a political coup for Bush, a Republican, because McKelvey is the Democratic mayor of one of the most Democratic cities in Ohio -- a swing state in the November general election. Mahoning County Democratic officials dismissed the endorsement, saying McKelvey is a Democrat in name only.
Campaigner
McKelvey attended several Bush campaign stops last year, often giving spirited introductions of the president.
One rally was in October 2004 at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, adjacent to the air base.
Also, during an official presidential stop in May 2004, the day before McKelvey's dinner at the White House, Air Force One touched down at the air base. Bush greeted military personnel and their families after attending an event at Youngstown State University.
McKelvey said he has casually mentioned the air base to Bush, and the president is aware of the facility's importance to the Mahoning Valley.
"He is cautious in his response," McKelvey said of Bush. "But it's hard for it not to be on his radar screen."