White House appointment is feather in Williams’ cap

In and of itself, Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams’ appointment by President Barack Obama as director of the Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers — the so-called auto czar — is significant. But the move takes on greater importance when viewed within the context of a second Obama term.

It is normal for members of the cabinet who have been with the administration in the first term to consider leaving the White House to return to the private sector. That opens up many opportunities for someone like Williams to have a realistic chance of being considered for certain cabinet posts should they become available, such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In other words, the position in the administration the mayor of Youngstown will be filling beginning Aug. 8 could be a stepping stone for something greater. Not bad for a man whose political career goes back just five years when he was sworn into office as the first black mayor in the history of Youngstown and the first independent candidate to win a general election race in 80 years. Prior to running for the top spot in city government, Williams served as director of the Community Development Agency. Before that, he was a banking officer.

Williams’ tenure as the chief executive of an older, urban community that was on the ropes is what caught the Obama administration’s attention. It certainly didn’t hurt that the blueprint for city’s revitalization, “Youngstown 2010,” has been widely publicized not only in the United States but around the world. Indeed, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, who announced Williams’ appointment as the auto czar, noted that the mayor helped revitalize neighborhoods and increase investments in broad-based economic development initiatives.

The Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers assists areas of the country negatively affected by the retrenchment of the auto industry to identify federal resources that may be used as part of their recovery efforts. Where resources are lacking, the office will recommend changes or new methods that can be used toward the revitalization of the communities.

By virtue of his being mayor of the largest community in the Mahoning Valley, Williams has had a front-row seat to the reorganization of the auto industry. The decision by President Obama to lead the push for the bailout of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler is now being played out in Lordstown, where GM has a major assembly plant.

Financial stability

As a result of the industry being returned to financial stability, GM is producing its top selling compact car, the Chevrolet Cruze, in Lordstown. There are three shifts working and by every assessment, the cars being built are of the highest quality.

Without the bailout, the future of the Lordstown plant would have been in jeopardy.

But Williams also played a major role in the French company, Vallourec, investing $650 million in a state-of-the-art steel pipe producing plant on land adjacent to its V&M Star steel-making facility in Youngstown. Because the land was located in Girard and Vallourec wanted it annexed to Youngstown, Williams had to work with Girard Mayor James Melfi on a revenue sharing deal.

The success of that collaboration can be seen with the plant now rising along Route 422.