Vice Mayor Alicia Reece met with Mayor Charlie Luken's city manager nominee Saturday, but remains the only member of Cincinnati City Council not to express support.

        Ms. Reece met with Valerie Lemmie for more than an hour Saturday morning, but emerged with little to say about the 49-year-old Dayton city manager.

TIME LINE

Under Cincinnati's new system of selecting a city manager, City Council members must have a chance to interview candidates the mayor is considering before a formal nomination can happen.     The selection time line:     • Jan. 16: Mayor Charlie Luken announced his choice of Dayton City Manager Valerie Lemmie for the top Cincinnati job.     • Saturday: All nine council members met with Ms. Lemmie privately in a series of interviews at City Hall.     • Tuesday: Mr. Luken plans to introduce an ordinance to hire Ms. Lemmie, probably in the Finance Committee.     • Thursday: City Council members will likely vote on Ms. Lemmie's contract.     • March: If confirmed Thursday, Ms. Lemmie could start in six to eight weeks.     (If she is not confirmed, the process starts over.)

        “I took notes. I'm still putting my thoughts together,” Ms. Reece said. “I'll be ready for a vote on Thursday.”

        Ms. Lemmie met with all nine council members Saturday in more than eight hours of back-to-back meetings — including a lunch meeting with Councilman Jim Tarbell at Tucker's Restaurant on Vine Street.

        Mr. Luken last week put his “Vine Street Project” at the top of his list of priorities for 2002.

        Ms. Reece is the only council member who has not had praise for Ms. Lemmie. She did not attend a much-publicized event last week announcing her nomination for the job. Ms. Reece said later that she didn't want her presence misinterpreted as support for a city manager candidate she hadn't talked to.

        The Democratic councilwoman said she's looking for a city manager who will commit to the eight priorities she outlined in a memo to Mayor Charlie Luken. They include:

        • Working with the health commissioner to lobby the state for money for clinics, day care and nursing home inspections.

        • Supporting the Citizens Police Review Panel.

        • Including small businesses in city contracts.

        • Releasing information to council members before the public.

        • Making City Hall more handicapped accessible.

        • Establishing a point person on equal opportunity and minority contracting.

        • Reporting on the number of minorities and women in each city department.

        • Improving basic city services in all neighborhoods.

        Other council members had their own lists of issues for Ms. Lemmie.

        Councilman David Crowley, for example, wanted to know about Ms. Lemmie's sometimes difficult relationship with the Dayton city employees' union.

        Mr. Crowley said he still wants to talk to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees before committing to vote for Ms. Lemmie. But after meeting with her, he said he was somewhat satisfied with her answers on union issues.

        “She's quick. She's very quick, and I believe she's pretty honest,” he said. “I would be hard-pressed to vote against her, but I still feel I have to pursue some more inquiries.”

        Other council members seem to have made up their minds.

        Councilman John Cranley said Ms. Lemmie spent as much time in their meeting interviewing him as the other way around.

        “She seems focused on trying to garner support and build coalitions,” he said. “I don't get the picture that she's going to sit in her office all day and think things are going to fix themselves.”

        Pat DeWine, one of two Republicans on City Council, said the mayor “is entitled to a good deal of discretion” in his pick, and he commended Ms. Lemmie on her determination to re-examine the city's bureaucracy.

        Mr. Luken said Saturday he expects City Council will unanimously approve his choice this week.
       

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