DAYTON DAILY NEWS                   Copyright (c) 1996, Dayton Newspapers Inc.DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996                  TAG: 9605090053EDITION: CITY           SECTION: NEWS        PAGE: 1A TYPE: PROFILESOURCE: By Laura A. Bischoff DAYTON DAILY NEWS                             HIGHLY RECOMMENDED                       MANAGER HOPEFUL HAS FEW CRITICSPETERSBURG, VA. -   Council members in Petersburg, Va., considered it a risk when they hired Valerie A. Lemmie as city manager in January 1993. She had never run a city before.   Three years later, council members give her high marks. They say Lemmie hasworked well with Mayor Rosalyn Dance to build the city's industrial base, has improved relations with neighboring areas and been an asset to Petersburg.   ``I see her as a rising star," Dance said. "She will go far.''   Dayton city commissioners this morning will weigh taking a similar risk with Lemmie by elevating her from city manager of Petersburg - 800 employees and 38,000 residents - to city manager of Dayton, with 2,500 employees and 182,000 residents.   Lemmie, 44, is the only candidate left from a national search to find a successor to Bill Estabrook, who was fired as city manager in December after ayear on the job. The other finalist withdrew from consideration Monday.   Dayton city commissioners - who speak highly of Lemmie - will meet in closed session today to discuss whether to offer her the job.   She declined requests for an interview, but in Petersburg City Hall, department heads praised Lemmie as a team leader who they would hate to see leave.   ``I consider her to be one of the best people I've ever worked for in my life,'' said Guthrie Smith, director of Petersburg's public works. ``She allows us to develop and train and to run our departments. She doesn't micro-manage. . . . She is quite amazing with her personality and her charisma.''   Top level staff in Petersburg describe Lemmie as a manager who works well with employees, business leaders, neighborhood and community groups and the budget.   But managing in Dayton would definitely be different than in Petersburg. Dayton has an operating budget of $150 million compared with Petersburg's $54 million. Petersburg has no residency requirement for rank-and-file city workers, nor a civil service system.   When Lemmie changed Petersburg's garbage collection from twice a week to once a week, in a cost-saving measure, she didn't have to negotiate with employee unions. Petersburg has none.   But Lemmie did spend nearly a year getting residents' comments and preparing for the change, Smith said.   Lemmie may also find Dayton's tradition of citizen participation different than in Petersburg.   Staff and Petersburg City Council members said it was Lemmie's idea to walkneighborhoods to hear residents' concerns and to review the budget at neighborhood meetings before it was adopted. But taking the budget to the people was stopped this year because so few people showed up, one staff membersaid.   Dayton city commissioners said they believe Lemmie could do the job here. She has work experience as a department head in Arlington County, Va., and in the District of Columbia under Mayor Marion Barry's administration.   Lemmie's most controversial move came early on in Petersburg. In 1993, she halted the promotion of some white police officers, saying she had questions about the process. The officers sued and then-Police Chief Willie Williams, who is black, testified that Lemmie discussed race with him and the fact no minorities were on the promotion list, according to press accounts. Lemmie denied the allegation. The lawsuit was settled out of court.   One police official said the incident tainted Lemmie's relationship with the police department. ``That promotion thing - that still lingers among some.Cops have good memories,'' he said.   Another controversy in Petersburg City Hall surfaced late last year with the discovery that an employee in the economic development department might have embezzled about $80,000.   Former department director Jack Davenport told the Richmond Times Dispatch that he did not question allowing the employee to handle certain financial duties and that Lemmie's administration encouraged delegating responsibility.   ``I think a lot of the checks and balances that are in place in government organizations are in place for a good reason.  In our efforts to do things faster and more efficiently, we cannot lose sight of the fact those checks andbalances are there for a reason,'' Davenport said. Dance said that, if offeredO the Dayton job, Lemmie would be a tough negotiator looking for a goodproposal from Dayton officials, including provisions for job security.   ``The reputation is y'all eat 'em up and spit them out,'' Dance said.   In Petersburg, Lemmie is paid an annual salary of $87,000, plus $3,500 in deferred compensation.BOX:      Lemmie biography     * Name: Valerie A. Lemmie     * Age: 44     * Family: Married to Olen Strozier Jr.; no children.     * Current job: City manager of Petersburg, Va.     * Population: 38,000     * Education: Master's in urban affairs/policy planning, Washington      University, St. Louis; bachelor's in political science, University of      Missouri, Columbia, Mo.     LENGTH: Long  :  107 LINESILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Valerie A. Lemmie has made a few missteps in her tenure           in Petersburg, Va., but overall has workers in her corner. She is in          line for the Dayton manager's job. The decision comes today.          SUBJ: CANDIDATE      CITY MANAGER      LOCAL GOVERNMENTNA: VALERIE A. LEMMIEGEOG: DAYTON      ENHANCER: REF5