May/June 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Roanoke’s new city manager walked into an uncomfortable situation that could have been considerably worse.
When Valmarie Turner first entered her third-floor office at the Roanoke Municipal Building a few months ago, it wasn’t obvious that she had dodged a bullet.
The truth was that the previous city administrator’s regime (one deputy in particular) had fallen because of accusations of being an unwelcoming workplace with serious morale issues. Nobody was fired from Bob Cowell's crew, but there was a clearing-out of those allegedly responsible — which did not include Cowell, who resigned anyway.
Roanoke City Council began a national search for a replacement for Cowell by bringing in interim city manager Lydia Pettis Patton, a woman with a reputation as a tough, competent, no-nonsense executive, which she quickly established in Roanoke. “Dr. Patton worked to restore and strengthen connection between the city manager’s office and city employees,” says Mayor Joe Cobb.
“Bob got a bad rap because he protected people,” says Trish White-Boyd, a former member of council and its personnel chairwoman, who sat in the middle of the mess. “I always liked Bob.”
Patton swept up the mess and helped open a welcoming door for Turner, who was unanimously approved as the new city manager. White-Boyd says, “We interviewed a lot of people and Valmarie was by far the best. And she is in a good place.” It has almost been a lovefest between city workers, administrators, the business community and Turner, an outgoing woman with a shiny reputation and an equally gleaming and welcoming smile.
Cobb has been impressed so far: “Valmarie has fully immersed herself in the life, energy and work of our city, engaging with city departments to more fully understand their essential work, as well as meeting with many city leaders and citizens. Valmarie has a great rapport with City Council, is well-informed on issues and is clear in her approach to find equitable solutions to our challenges. She is leading us through a very challenging budget review and development process. I am excited about her work with us and look forward to a bright future in our work together.”
For Valmarie Turner (“Just call me Val”), Roanoke presented a case of love at first sight. She was serving as deputy city manager of Fairfax when she was singled out for the Roanoke job. She has 30 years in city government, and White-Boyd said at Turner’s introduction, “She has an excellent reputation as a leader, a team builder and someone who builds collaborative relationships with stakeholders in the community.”
Dan Smith
Turner has a degree in business economics from Florida A&M (where she was a member of Delta Sigma Theta, making her a sorority sister of White-Boyd). She also has a master’s degree in public administration from Walden University.
Turner has a 27-year-old daughter who is a fourth-grade teacher in Florida. Turner hasn’t been married for years.
When she arrived in the Roanoke Valley, she says, “A lot felt good. There was a welcoming staff and public. It was humbling and made coming to work easier than it might have been. We had a lot of conversations about what we want to do and how. That excites me.”
Her background in creating “huge budgets,” she says, gave her “invaluable experience” in facing her first challenge in Roanoke.
She will be facing challenges around the federal budget and she plans “to be on offense … The staff is making a list” of federal and state monies that Roanoke needs to properly operate. “We have grants funding [such diverse programs as] ambulances, social services, parks, housing” and other programs.
She says that Roanoke, like so many cities, “can be hurt significantly” by serious cuts. “We will be looking at different ways to bring in revenue. If we lose funding, we will look internally” to replace it or lessen the effects of loss.
City Council has already reacted to the Trump Administration’s threat to seriously cut federal funding if Roanoke did not remove diversity, equity and inclusion language from city government webpages. Roanoke complied.
Turner lives downtown and loves it. She enjoys eating out and has found a number of pleasant experiences at Roanoke’s restaurants. Those restaurants represent the kind of businesses that are especially important to her because they are locally owned and “we want to help build businesses.”
She says her daughter would have a difficult time living in Roanoke at her salary and Turner is intent on helping to create affordable housing, a term that is not limited to housing for the poor.
She says, “This is a good time for me. I work 12-hour days, giving 150% and I am humbled that the city embraces me. There are challenges everywhere and we are on trajectory to make this a great place.”
The story above is from our May/June 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!