After Valmarie Turner moved to Northern Virginia in 2017, a conference in Roanoke inspired her to take annual trips to the city.

“It was absolutely the charm, it was absolutely the people,” she said of her attraction to Roanoke.

Turner, Fairfax’s deputy city manager, will become Roanoke’s next city manager in mid-January, following a unanimous verdict from City Council on Monday. The announcement of Turner’s hiring comes six months after former city manager Bob Cowell resigned under pressure, and one month before a majority of new Council members begin their terms. 

Turner brings a background in overseeing government programs related to housing and homelessness, areas she plans to tackle in Roanoke in her first city manager job.

“We have opportunities to work on, one of which is increasing jobs — and not just any jobs but higher-paying jobs — so economic development would certainly be a focus,” Turner said at a press conference at city hall Monday crowded with city employees and residents. “But also … housing. Just to look at housing in totality so that we have housing options available for the continuum, and that’s 0 percent of area median income up to 100 percent of area median income.”

Before Fairfax, where Turner served a brief stint as acting city manager, she worked in Loudon County as an assistant county administrator from 2017 until last year. Before moving to Virginia, she held various city government positions in Florida and Georgia.

Turner, who declined to give her age, will be Roanoke’s first Black city manager. She’ll be the second woman in the job since Darlene Burcham served Roanoke from 1999 until 2010.

“Roanoke’s gain is Northern Virginia’s loss,” Phyllis Randall, Loudoun County’s chair-at-large on the board of supervisors, said in an interview.

Randall credited Turner with crafting the county’s strategic housing plan, creating a housing and community development department and finding new ways to secure grant funding.

“I watched her with individuals. She is absolute masterful in her managing skills,” Randall said. “She is supportive, and she's one of these people that, if there's criticism to give, she’ll give that in private, and if there's praise to give, she’ll give that in public.”  

Since June, Roanoke has been operating under interim leadership from Lydia Pettis Patton, a former Portsmouth city manager. Patton said she did not intend to succeed Cowell permanently.

Vice Mayor Joe Cobb said Turner stood out from a group of seven finalists whom Council members interviewed over two days last month.

“She was so well researched and informed about things we were already working on, places where we have opportunity, some of our challenges, internally and externally,” Cobb said. “It’s almost like she was already here.”

Cobb said Council members talked with Turner about action on climate change, economic development and the city’s compensation study, which found Roanoke lagging peers in employee pay. Challenges around the opioid epidemic, homelessness and crime were also top of mind in the conversation, according to Cobb.

“Besides her spirit, which I think is a great match for Roanoke, … she works with community partners to bring local government and communities into a very collaborative working relationship,” Cobb said. “She’s such a growth-oriented person.” 

Turner’s annual salary will be $255,000 plus benefits, including $10,000 for moving expenses, according to a copy of her contract the city released Tuesday in response to a public records request. The contract keeps a clause governing a “no cause termination” — which saw the city pay Cowell a year’s salary and benefits after his departure — but adds that the city would pay only six months’ salary and benefits if such a separation were to happen within Turner’s first year on the job.

Monday morning, Council voted 6-0 to hire Turner, with Councilwoman Stephanie Moon Reynolds absent. Moon Reynolds later expressed her support, saying that when Turner arrived for the interview “she changed the whole atmosphere” by being “so energetic; she was positive.” 

Next month, three new Council members elected in November will take over, and the outcome either way of a mayoral recount will result in a fourth new person on the dais.

“That was a question that I asked very early on,” Turner said to laughter when asked about taking the job knowing she would report to a new Council majority. 

“I wanted to make sure that if this Council was going to make a decision, that it was something that would be supported by the incoming Council members, and I did get the opportunity to meet and talk to a couple of those Council members,” she said.

Incoming Councilman Phazhon Nash said he and Nick Hagen attended the interview sessions, while Terry McGuire was absent because of his job as a substitute teacher.

“Actually it was a unanimous decision among all nine that were there, just so the public is aware of that, so she feels good coming in,” Councilwoman Trish White-Boyd said. 

At the press conference, Turner wore a red suit and posed for photos with other red-clad members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, which also includes White-Boyd and Patton.

“I’m more of what people call a transformational leader,” Turner said. “I believe in team. I believe in collaboration and partnership. I don't think that we can be an island and be successful.” 

Turner moved to Virginia from Seminole County, Florida, where she was director of the community services department.

Before that, West Palm Beach leaders praised Turner, the city’s housing director, after she found the city couldn’t account for millions in federal dollars given to a local bishop’s housing nonprofit, according to local media outlets. The Palm Beach Post reported that Turner “discovered the financial discrepancies” and in 2011 “left for a similar job in Seminole County.” 

She earned a bachelor’s degree in business economics from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee and a master’s degree in public administration from Walden University in Minneapolis, according to a city news release.

At 9:54 a.m. Monday, Turner sent Fairfax leaders a short email of resignation, said Fairfax Mayor Catherine Read, four minutes after Roanoke’s Council meeting ended.

“While I am sorry to lose her here in Fairfax City, I’m thrilled for Roanoke City and for Valmarie,” Read said in an email. “She has been an important voice in the room as we’ve tackled complex issues.”

Jeff Sturgeon contributed reporting to this story.