City Manager Valerie Lemmie told Cincinnati business leaders Thursday they need to listen to leaders of the economic boycott against the city.

        Though she stopped short of saying the city should negotiate specific boycott demands — a line that Mayor Charlie Luken has said he will not cross — Ms. Lemmie did call for “negotiation” in the context of a broader discussion of economic inequities in Cincinnati.

Lemmie

        “I can't speak to what their demands are. What they're really talking about is equal access and equal opportunity,” she said. “Part of it becomes our own attitude. If we think of the boycott as a game and that's what we project, we're never going to be taken seriously.

        “There are a lot of people doing things. A lot more needs to be done in a concrete, accountable way. It's like a report card, or a score card,” she said. “It's a two-way street. It's called a negotiation.”

        Her speech to the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce's government forum luncheon was her first public comments on the boycott and a rare use of the bully pulpit for the city manager. It came as a surprise to many business and government leaders, who expected her to talk about “the challenges and opportunities” the city has faced in her first 100 days as city manager.

        “There are many positive things going on in our city, and all of you have heard about them or have firsthand knowledge of them,” she said. “So today I have chosen to address that which is foremost in all of our minds and hearts — yet which is almost never publicly discussed: the boycott.”

        Ms. Lemmie quoted liberally from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and the Declaration of Independence.

        A segment of Cincinnati believes that government and business leaders have not lived up to Jefferson's words that “all men are created equal,” she said. And because of that, African-Americans are increasingly taking Jefferson's next sentence literally, that “whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it.”

        “These citizens are speaking to us through boycotts, lawsuits and talk radio. We may not like what they have to say — but we have a moral and legal obligation to listen and to act. But before we can act, we must understand the depth and breadth of their frustration.”

        The boycott movement, now in its 14th month, came to life in January when comedian Bill Cosby cancelled an appearance. Since then, the city has lost at least two major national conventions — by the National Progressive Baptist Convention and the National Urban League. On Wednesday, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People decided to move its annual Freedom Fund dinner out of downtown after national President Kweise Mfume intervened.

        Two main groups, the Cincinnati Black United Front and the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati, lead the boycott. Together, they have presented city hall with a list of about 30 demands, including the prosecution of specific police officers, funding of inner-city development plans and campaign finance reform. One group has even issued “pre-conditions” to those demands, saying it won't negotiate until the city pays money to families of black men killed by police.

        Ms. Lemmie did not address any specific demands, and instead talked of broader issues of disparities as measured by the Ohio Proficiency Test, conviction and incarceration rates, and the infant mortality rate.

        Unless the city addresses these problems, she said, “It won't be the terrorists from without, but the disaffected from within, who will cause most of our future difficulties.”

        The city is making progress, Ms. Lemmie said. An agreement with the U.S. Justice Department will result in $13 million of improvements to police oversight.

        “It's the best $13 million we've ever spent if it changes the way the community feels about the police,” she said. “But do you know how much more money we've lost in businesses not coming to town, in conventions not coming to town? That money is lost forever.”

        Ms. Lemmie urged businesses to advertise contracts in African-American newspapers, and to open up their purchasing to smaller, minority-owned businesses.

        But other than that, she was short on specifics, and she admitted that city hall doesn't have all the answers.

        “Doing things for people doesn't make a difference in the community. It's doing things with people,” she said. “We're struggling to deliver basic services each and every day. The best we can do is to be a community partner.”

        Ms. Lemmie's remarks got a mostly welcome reception from the business audience, though some questioned her on the boycott's specific demands.

        “I think it's important to recognize what a passionate partner with the business community we have in Valerie Lemmie,” said chamber President Michael Fisher told the crowd.

        He said business leaders are already working on many of the issues Ms. Lemmie outlined. A one-stop job center, for example, will seek to better connect jobs to people in minority communities. And many companies are working to diversify their supply chain.

        “I think that demonstrates how important we feel this issue is for the long-term health of the local economy,” Mr. Fisher said.

        Mr. Luken said Thursday that he was aware of Ms. Lemmie's feelings about the boycott and supports her statements. He said he, too, is willing to listen to the boycotters — but repeated that he will not negotiate demands.

        “Obviously, what Valerie is trying to do is to set a tone,” he said. “One of the reasons Valerie Lemmie is here is to try new solutions to old problems. I've encouraged her to reach out, to get involved, to use the bully pulpit. She does so with my blessing.”

        Ms. Lemmie said citizens can expect her to speak out more often now that she's settling into the office.

        “You've got to listen before you can decide where to go. I've spent four months listening,” she said.

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