Valentine selected to be city manager

Denise Cardinal

Tuesday, May 12, 1998 | 9:50 a.m.

Proving the theory that there's a home-field advantage, Virginia Valentine has been unanimously chosen as the final candidate for Las Vegas city manager.

Valentine, 41, was the only local candidate of the four finalists considered for the position, which was made vacant when City Manager Larry Barton retired earlier this year. Barton has been retained on a monthly basis until a replacement could be found.

The council voted to start contract negotiations with Valentine, who is currently an engineer and senior vice president at Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan. She was the general manager at Clark County Regional Flood Control from 1986 to 1993.

Unlike the other three finalists, Valentine has no city manager experience -- a quality that was seen as more of an asset than a liability to council members.

"She comes from the private sector," Jones said. "Management skills transfer easily."

Rather than squirreling away from media scrutiny, Valentine held a press conference on Monday after the council's decision.

When asked what she would do as city manager, Valentine said she couldn't answer until she talked first with the mayor and council members.

"Right now, I don't know any more about the city than you do," she said.

Valentine declined to comment on whether -- if given Barton's current annual salary of $127,000 -- she would be taking a pay cut.

When asked why she wanted to be city manager, Valentine said that "public service gets in your blood. I've missed it."

She estimated that the soonest she'd be starting at City Hall would be in a month.

One of her strengths, she said, is that she knows a lot about infrastructure and its funding -- knowledge that a bourgeoning city like Las Vegas would find invaluable.

"This is infrastructure paradise," she said, "because we need everything. And the good thing is the public has always supported infrastructure. Parks could use some improvement."