But Fortin hopes city initiatives to help the disadvantaged aren't totally lost in the bridge debate.

A two-term city councillor, Fortin took over the city's top job last December, ambitiously promising improvements on the homelessness front within six months. Fortin says he was promptly misquoted as saying he would end homelessness in six months.

"I don't think I would ever commit to ending homelessness in six months. It's a seven- to 10-year plan. I think we're making major strides and gains on it and we should continue to work on it," Fortin said in a year-end interview.

Fortin acknowledges there are still lots of panhandlers on the streets and campers in city parks, but says anecdotal evidence shows homelessness may be on the wane.

"You hear it anecdotally from street vendors, from business owners, from taxi drivers. ... the street community is reporting less 'absolute' homelessness. We're certainly seeing more desperation out there with more families and seniors relying on food and all the support services.

"So, although we're lowering the number of people sleeping rough, we realize there's a long way to go."

And he anticipates that steady improvement will continue as millions of dollars in new social housing starts to come online.

In the past year, the city has committed $1.57 million for new housing, leveraging some $81 million worth of projects. About 200 new units are now either in planning or under construction.

Some of the projects now underway include more than 50 units of affordable housing in the Wing Building on Wilson Street in Vic West; a new purpose-built 83-bed emergency shelter on Ellice Street with 25 units of transitional housing; and 44 units of supportive housing on Humboldt Street.

The city has taken other steps as well, offering grants of up to $5,000 for homeowners to build secondary suites and a 10-year tax holiday for the creation of affordable housing operated by non-profits.

Early in the year, Victoria council met in closed workshops with senior staff to set priorities. Topping the list were homelessness and affordable housing, while harm-reduction -- policies designed to minimize harmful consequences of drug use -- infrastructure, dealing with late-night disorder and improving communications and council's decision-making process also made the list.

Fortin would not rank council's performance in each area, but said considerable progress has been made on several fronts.

He believes council has shed some of its reputation for being indecisive and has been able to stay on course. Part of that, he believes, was achieved through revamping the city's standing committee structure, although the jury's still out on whether it has sped up decision-making.

On the communications front, the city hired a Vancouver-based consultant, HB Lanarc Consultants, for $35,000 to develop a public-engagement strategy. Although it has four full-time staff working in its $380,000-a-year corporate communications department, the city hired an additional two communications officers on a two-year term specifically for the Johnson Street Bridge replacement project. The city has begun publishing a quarterly newsletter, and plans to revamp its web page and to web-stream council meetings.

Fortin just released recommendations of his late-night task force, which calls for more policing in the downtown on weekends, designated taxi zones and the provision of more urinals.

One difficult area has been harm-reduction, specifically finding a replacement home for the needle exchange, which was evicted from its Cormorant Street location after failing to deal with neighbourhood complaints about safety, discarded needles and drug-dealing.

Fortin describes council's role in the needle exchange as that of advocate, and says it's the Vancouver Island Health Authority's job to find a replacement site or sites.

"It's important we do it right. If we just jam it in and open up one centre and it isn't done right, then it might last another three or six months and then you've damaged all your harm-reduction for the long term," said Fortin, who believes there's a need for more than one site, perhaps utilizing community health clinics.

All of the social-service initiatives are being undertaken against a backdrop of limited resources and aging infrastructure.

"We're not going to shirk from our responsibilities. We can't continually pass these on to future generations," Fortin said.

But keeping a lid on tax increases has not been easy. Taxes went up 4.8 per cent this year, and they're projected to continue to increase at the rate of about 4.5 per cent a year through 2013.

The city is considering dipping into capital reserves to shave a couple of points off an anticipated 5.4 per cent increase. Those savings could be lost through a projected policing-budget hike that might keep the increase in the five per cent range.

"You either look to reduce your services or increase, somehow, new revenue opportunities," Fortin said. "Those are fundamentally the two things you have to consider."

But spending on things like housing, for example, can reduce costs in other areas, he said.

"There's a call for more policing, but we know if you can help house more people, you can reduce impact on costs and calls on your policing and on the rest of your infrastructure."

The city hopes to attack part of the infrastructure deficit by replacing the Johnson Street Bridge, with help from a $21-million federal grant.

Replacing the bridge is possible without a tax increase because some of the city's debt is being retired.

Fortin said undertaking the bridge replacement doesn't mean the city won't be able to do anything else, saying there's still room for projects like an upgrade of the Crystal Pool.

The bridge debate could end the first week in January, when the current counter-petition process wraps up. If 10 per cent of electors haven't signed petitions blocking it, the city will borrow the money and the project will proceed. If opponents reach the threshold, council will have to hold a referendum or re-evaluate the project.

Regardless, housing and homelessness will continue to be council's top priority in 2010, followed closely by a review of the city's Official Community Plan and continued work on downtown vitality.

bcleverley@tc.canwest.com