Valerie Lemmie's predecessor, John Shirey, survived for eight years in the job by learning how to keep at least five council members happy at all times.

        Ms. Lemmie, sworn in Tuesday as the first city manager under a new “stronger mayor” form of government, will have an easier go of it — City Council can't fire her without Mayor Charlie Luken's consent.

Valerie Lemmie, newly sworn in Cincinnati city manager, is hugged by Former U.S. Rep. Tom Luken at a reception in her honor. (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

        Still, a savvy city manager knows that she ignores City Council at her own peril. For one thing, they control her salary and her budget.

        And Ms. Lemmie has displayed a keen understanding of the balance of power between the council and the manager: They set the agenda, she implements the agenda.

        If only it were that simple. When she attends her first council meeting as city manager today, Ms. Lemmie will almost immediately be faced with nine different agendas in addition to the mayor's:

        • Paul Booth, Democrat: The chairman of the Neighborhood and Public Works Committee is working on plans to revamp the Cincinnati Neighborhood Action Strategy, an approach developed by Mr. Shirey. Mr. Booth thinks the team system is broken, and will call on Ms. Lemmie's experience in citizen involvement to help fix it.

        • Minette Cooper, Democrat: Though her attention will be drawn to a race for the Democratic nomination for state representative against former Councilman Tyrone Yates, her expectations at City Hall are unwavering. She demands balanced, reliable information from city staffers to allow council members to make better decisions.

        • John Cranley, Democrat: Two weeks before she started, Mr. Cranley already started lobbying Ms. Lemmie for a new crime tracking system that he said would help police and neighborhoods work together to spot minor problems before they become major ones. He also thinks there's plenty of fat to be cut out of the budget by taking a fresh look at the city's bureaucracy.

        • David Crowley, Democrat: With a conservative majority on City Council pushing for “managed competition” of city services, Mr. Crowley will use every opportunity to persuade Ms. Lemmie to put the brakes on the process.

        • Pat DeWine, Republican: With the city facing a $27 million budget deficit in 2003, Mr. DeWine is in full budget-slashing mode. He'll expect the city manager to take swift action on many of his cost saving proposals, such as cutting $2.3 million from management overtime.

        • Chris Monzel, Republican: As one of the council's newest members, Mr. Monzel is still trying to find his niche issues. Lately, he's focused on small-business development — especially in the restaurant sector. And he seems to be the council member who's most alarmed at any time there's a spike in violent crime.

        • David Pepper, Democrat: With Mr. Cranley, he will push for a renewed attention to issues of crime and blight, and will need Ms. Lemmie's help in implementing a 10-point neighborhood plan. And as the council's new civility czar, he will expect the city manager to do her part to build consensus.

        • Alicia Reece, Democrat: The final council member to publicly endorse Ms. Lemmie, she insists there's no lingering tension between the two strong-willed African-American leaders. She will push Ms. Lemmie to fix the city's Department of Community Development, which has been slow to address small-business issues. Her golden rule: Never, ever tell the public anything you haven't told council first.

        • James R. Tarbell, Charterite: When the mayor nominated Ms. Lemmie for the job, Mr. Tarbell interviewed her at Tucker's Restaurant on Vine Street. With his almost singular focus on Over-the-Rhine, he will undoubtedly give her a history lesson on what he sees as 30 years of failed social policies in the city's poorest neighborhood.

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