London city council: What have you done for me lately?

In 2014, Londoners really wanted a city council that wasn't like the old city council.

Londoners wanted change, they got change, but there's a quiet disappointment with this council because we haven't seen more action.- GordHume, municipal watcher and author

Remember former Mayor Joe Fontana and his voting block, the Fontana 8? The criminal conviction that forced the mayor to resign? The secret and illegal meeting in the backroom of a restaurantand the inability to get much done at council?

In 2014, mostveteranslost their seats on council or didn't run again, and 11 of the 14 ward seats went to rookies.

Mayor Matt Brown ran on a platform of integrity and teamwork.

That was three years ago.

Today, we're alittle closer to having a rapid transit system,we're not that much closer to figuring out what to do with Springbank Dam and themayor, who ran on a platform of integrity, was involved in a sex scandal halfway through his term.

"When you look at significant accomplishments -- what has this council done to transform London? I suspect they would argue the BRT plan, but the problem is I don't think Londoners have bought into that with any significance," said Gord Hume, a former London councillor and author of several books about cities and leadership.

"When you think back three years ago, the overwhelming issue for Londoners was 'throw the bums out.' It was about getting out every last person on the last council, which was generallythought to be bad, dysfunctional, divisive and poor for London. And that's what the voters did."

The problem, Hume said, is that Londoners didn't really get a vision for what the city should be.

"My sense is that Londoners wanted change, they got change, but there's a quiet disappointment with this council because we haven't seen more action."

What has been accomplished?

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are some things your city councillors have voted on in the last three years:

• A raise -whoever is elected next year will make 30 per cent more than the current crop of municipal politicians after councillorsvoted to accept an arms-length taskforce's salary recommendation.
• Food trucks - rejected by the last council, agreed upon (unanimously) early in this council's term. Now there's even a food truck association andFacebook page.
• Gumballs - kids can keep their quarters, because city facilities no longer carry candy machines. Now they just bug their parents for chips and chocolate bars from vending machines.
• Amplified music - As of this summer Londoners can dance and sing and listen to music on patios, footloose and fancy-free until 11:00 p.m.
• Southwest Area Plan - expect more commercial and retail development in the southwest part of the city.
• Downtown towers - there are almost a dozen residential towers being built, or being planned, for the downtown core. It's part of the London Plan's 'building up, not out' philosophy, though the city still has plenty of sprawl.
• Blackfriars Bridge - the landmark is being removed and restored and will bebrought back for public use.
• Bus Rapid Transit - it could have been light rail, but this council rejected that idea, giving us instead a $500 million bus rapid transit plan that will run on two main lines through the city. There are still plenty of issues to iron out.
• Ranked ballots - whoever runs for mayor or council, we'll be the first Canadian city to use ranked ballots to vote them in.
• Multi-year-budget - spending priorities have been set for 2016-2019, with average annual tax increases of 2.6 per cent (or $71 a year for the average London home). When it was passed, it was the first time a multi-year budget was used in London.
• Group home bylaw - two years after the death of a London man in an unregulated group home, council passed a bylaw that licenses homes for vulnerable residents.

With a year to go before the municipal election on October 22, 2018, and with a provincial election in June, municipal watcher Hume says it's unlikely this council will get many more big-ticket items done this term.

"I think the very regrettable affair that the mayor and then-deputy mayor had still hovers over them, certainly, and I think quietly some Londoners will remember that and it will affect their voting," Hume said.

"The fact is, I'm not sure council ever got its footing after that. The chance to really coalesce around a couple of big things was lost."