Lemmie

        Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken and Dayton City Manager Valerie Lemmie are negotiating a compensation package that could bring her to Cincinnati as one of the highest-paid city managers in the country.

        The negotiations began over the weekend and could conclude as early as today, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

        Mr. Luken has not formally named her as his choice for city manager, and any candidate for the job would have to be confirmed by City Council.

        But the intensive negotiations with Ms. Lemmie signal that Mr. Luken has decided she is his choice.

        He had been considering two other finalists: Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb and Cincinnati's acting city manager, Tim Riordan.

        Council members said Monday that Mr. Luken has told them he would like to have a deal in place before Wednesday evening's council meeting.

        If appointed, Ms. Lemmie would be the first female city manager in Cincinnati history.

        Ms. Lemmie, 49, makes $152,000 a year to run a city government about half the size of Cincinnati's. Her car allowance, bonuses and deferred compensation plan bring her total compensation to $169,000.

        Mr. Luken has said he's willing to pay considerably more than the city manager's current $149,000-a-year salary to attract the right candidate.

        After a five-hour, late-night bargaining session last week, Ms. Lemmie rejected the Dayton City Commission's latest contract offer.

        The five-member commission — with members taking office just last week — offered her a vote of confidence and assurances of job security, but no specific pay offer — although commissioners promised to review her salary within 30 days.

        And last month, Ms. Lemmie walked away from a job offer worth $231,000 from the largest municipal government in the United Kingdom.

        Officials in Birmingham, England, withdrew their job offer after Ms. Lemmie began to publicly agonize over the decision.

        “I think she's one of the finest in the country. I guess that's obvious — people outside of the country have tried to get her,” said former Dayton City Commissioner Edythe Lewis, whose term ended last week. “She's tops throughout. She knows everything. You ask her a question, she can reel it off. If she has a weakness, I have not seen it.”

        Ms. Lemmie has not returned calls seeking comment and has not spoken publicly about her decision since her name emerged as a finalist two weeks ago.

        An African-American, her work with the International City-County Management Association has focused on international relations, and she's considered an expert on citizen participation in municipal government.

        Ms. Lemmie has been the city manager of Dayton since 1996, and was city manager of Petersburg, Va., for three years before that.

        Ms. Lemmie is former director of the Department of Environmental Services for Arlington County, Va. She held several positions in Washington, D.C., including deputy director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and special assistant for the Office of Business and Economic Development. She was also an adjunct professor at Howard University.

        A St. Louis native, she is a 1973 graduate of the University of Missouri and has a master's degree in urban affairs from Washington University in St. Louis.

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