The mayor is using his political smarts as a unifying force.
The Greens candidate in the 2008 election for Melbourne's lord mayor was comfortably defeated, beaten by the conservative front-runner, former state opposition leader Robert Doyle.
The new mayor – who promised to return cars to Swanston Street and who disliked tram super stops – got the nod mostly with support of the business community.
But Doyle has proven to be something of a Trojan Horse in council – or perhaps he has been a victim of the Stockholm syndrome, seduced by life in the town hall, with its green roofs and environmentally spectacular 6-star Council House 2 building.
Whatever the explanation, his actions could lead some to believe that Robert Doyle is Melbourne's first ''green'' lord mayor.