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Mayor’s possible DC post still safe
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Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams
Budget cut axes just one of two car czars
YOUNGSTOWN
Although the federal budget ax fell on the “auto czar” position, it’s not the same Obama Administration job that might send Mayor Jay Williams to Washington, D.C.
As part of a deal to stop a partial government shutdown, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders agreed to eliminate four so-called czar positions, all of which are vacant, as part of a $38 billion cut to this fiscal year’s budget, which runs to Sept. 30.
“The agreement denies federal funding for the salaries and expenses of four of the Obama administration’s controversial ‘czars,’” according to a Tuesday statement from the office of Speaker of the House John Boehner of West Chester, R-8th.
Though they are commonly called “czars,” each of the positions — there are about 30 of them — have more formal and typically lengthier titles.
The auto-czar position eliminated officially was the “senior adviser to the secretary of the treasury assigned to the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry and senior counselor for manufacturing policy.”
Williams, who declined to comment Tuesday, is being considered for a different position also referred to, at times, as the auto czar.
That position’s official title is “director of recovery for auto communities and workers,” and funding for that post has not been cut.
The main responsibilities of that position are to determine how to spend federal money assisting displaced autoworkers with job retraining and to communities that largely depend on that industry as a key component to their economy.
The other position was more broad, overseeing the federal government’s investments in the auto industry as well as other manufacturing businesses.
“Typical Washington mind-set: Why have just one when two will cost you twice as much?” said Jessica Towhey, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson of Poland, R-6th. “This is exactly the kind of ‘logic’ that Rep. Johnson is fighting to change.”
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Avon, supports Obama’s appointing Williams to the position that remains.
“Sen. Brown remains committed to bringing new jobs to Ohio’s auto communities, like Youngstown, Mansfield and Moraine, and ensuring that these towns have the resources they need to thrive,” said Allison Preiss, his spokeswoman. “Should the opportunity arise for Mayor Williams to serve as the director of recovery for auto communities and workers, Sen. Brown would wholeheartedly support his appointment, having witnessed the mayor’s strong leadership for Youngstown and his in-depth knowledge of the domestic auto industry.”
Ed Montgomery resigned from that job in June 2010. Williams, a Democrat, confirmed in October that he had met with White House officials to discuss the vacancy. He has since declined to discuss it publicly.