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Bush appoints McKelvey to panel
The former Youngstown mayor made national news when he endorsed the U.S president for re-election.
YOUNGSTOWN — Former Youngstown Mayor George M. McKelvey will represent the United States as a member of a federal government agency’s humanitarian effort to assist people in Ireland.
McKelvey’s official title is U.S. observer to the International Fund for Ireland. He will serve as a nonvoting member of the fund’s board in Ireland and was appointed by President Bush.
Attempts to reach McKelvey on Monday were unsuccessful.
The fund was established in 1986 by the governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland as an independent international organization.
The fund’s goals are to promote economic and social advancement and to encourage contact, dialogue and reconciliation between nationalists and unionists in Ireland, according to a U.S. Agency for International Development statement.
McKelvey’s appointment was announced by USAID, based in Washington, D.C., a federal government agency that provides assistance throughout the world.
The United States has given $421 million to the Ireland fund since it was created in 1986.
Other countries with nonvoting members on the fund’s board include Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
USAID works with other federal agencies as well as private groups and businesses and other country’s governments to provide assistance to nations recovering from disaster, working to escape poverty and engage in democratic reforms, according to its Web site.
Though it is a nonpaying appointment, McKelvey will travel to Ireland four times per year. Mc- Kelvey will report on these trips to USAID and the State Department.
McKelvey, a Democrat, made national news in 2004 when he crossed party lines to campaign for and endorse President Bush, a Republican, for president. Though Bush fared poorly in Mahoning County and even worse in Youngstown, he won Ohio on his way to being re-elected four years ago.
After the election, McKelvey said he was considering a few appointments by the Bush administration.
But it wasn’t until now, with Bush having less than 10 months left as president, that McKelvey received an appointment to a federal position. As the appointee, he serves at the pleasure of the president.
McKelvey served two terms as Youngstown mayor and was unable to run for re-election in 2005 because of the city’s term-limits law.
He also served two terms as Mahoning County treasurer. McKelvey was soundly defeated in 2005 for county commissioner, losing to incumbent David Ludt. McKelvey had considered running for treasurer but opted not to.
skolnick@vindy.com