“Who do you think will win the mayor’s race?” a neighbour asked me this week. I said I thought George Smitherman, currently ahead in the polls, would.

“So, do you think he can do a better job than David Miller has done?” my neighbour then asked.

The question made me pause.

After a few moments, I said I had to admit that I wasn’t sure.

Nor was I convinced any of the other candidates running to be Toronto’s next mayor can lead the city any better than Miller has over the last seven years.

With the distressing state of the current mayor’s race, it is becoming increasingly obvious that Miller might have been a serious candidate to keep his job if he hadn’t announced last September that he would not seek a third term.

That’s because, despite five months of campaigning and endless public debates, the latest held only several days ago, none of the major candidates has been able to capture the imagination of a wide range of voters.

For many voters, it requires a leap of faith to believe Smitherman, known as much for his temper as his organizational skills, would make a better mayor than Miller.

And do you seriously believe Rob Ford, Rocco Rossi, Giorgio Mammoliti, Joe Pantalone or Sarah Thompson would be an improvement over Miller?

Miller decided not to run again after his popularity hit an all-time low following last summer’s 39-day strike by city workers.

At that time, with garbage piled around the city, winning a third term seemed impossible.

Both Smitherman and John Tory, the former Ontario Conservative leader, were itching for battle. Many of Miller’s former allies were abandoning him.

He had disappointed many voters who supported him in 2003 and 2006 and who felt he could have done much more for the city. He had made many enemies, especially at Queen’s Park, in business circles and in the media.

Today, though, the perception of Miller’s term as mayor is changing, albeit slowly.

“What did he do seriously wrong?” my neighbour asked.

Probably the best answer is that he failed to live up to expectations.

He swept into power in 2003 promising to clean up corruption and incompetence at city hall and to reverse the city’s decline that started in the 1980s.

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An honest look at his record shows he did just that — and more.

Indeed, despite the criticism being heaped on him — plenty of it deserved — Miller arguably has been the best Toronto mayor in the past 30 years.

His legacy includes Transit City, the suburban light-rail plan to connect underserved areas better to downtown Toronto.

Under his leadership, Toronto became a world environmental leader, introducing a city-wide recycling plan, buying Green Lane landfill and stopping the embarrassment of trucking our garbage to Michigan.

He spearheaded the drive for better relations with the police, saw development start finally in the eastern part of the downtown waterfront, lobbied successfully for new powers for the city, promoted the redevelopment of Regent Park and Lawrence Heights and strove to put more resources into 13 priority neighbourhoods.

In addition, he championed a cultural renaissance with such events as Luminato and new structures such as the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

In short, he got the city moving.

Put together, it’s a legacy that would make Miller a formidable candidate against Smitherman, Ford or anyone else.

If he was running, that is.

Bob Hepburn's column appears Thursday. bhepburn@thestar.ca