WHITE HOUSE McKelvey gets a dinner date with president

The mayor missed a chance to speak with Bush at a shamrock ceremony.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mayor George M. McKelvey wanted to have lunch with President Bush.
Instead, he got dinner.
McKelvey received an invitation from Bush to attend a Thursday shamrock ceremony at the White House to commemorate St. Patrick's Day.
McKelvey had wanted to use the opportunity to discuss the importance of keeping the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna off the federal Base Realignment and Closure list.
The Democratic mayor was hopeful he could somehow get to eat lunch with Bush to talk about the air base.
That didn't happen because of Bush's tight schedule after the St. Patrick's Day ceremony.
But during a brief conversation Thursday afternoon, McKelvey told The Vindicator he did even better than lunch.
The mayor said Bush invited him to dinner Thursday night. McKelvey said he would talk today about his time with the president.
McKelvey said the St. Patrick's Day event was enjoyable and memorable. But the mayor couldn't go into further details Thursday because he was trying to get a hotel reservation in Washington, D.C., as well as getting ready for dinner.
Second dinner meeting
McKelvey attended a private dinner at the White House in May 2004, sitting next to Bush. The two also had a one-on-one discussion after the dinner.
McKelvey endorsed Bush three months after the dinner, and received national media attention for the announcement.
He was among the more prominent Democratic elected officeholders to endorse Bush, a Republican, for president.
McKelvey is the Democratic mayor of one of the most Democratic cities in Ohio, a key swing state in the 2004 presidential election. Local Democrats dismissed the endorsement, saying McKelvey is a Democrat in name only.
McKelvey said he wanted to discuss the air base with the president. 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 employs more than 2,400 reservists and puts more than $100 million annually into the local economy.
McKelvey said it would devastate the local economy if the base closed.
After past brief discussions with Bush about the air base, McKelvey said the president understands the facility's importance to the area.