From serious investigations into city hall security failures to mundane complaints of being overcharged for garbage bins, Toronto’s watchdog says their role remains vital in the new term as complaints continued to rise in 2015.

“It’s business as usual regardless of who’s at the helm. We continue to investigate complaints, we continue to try to resolve complains on behalf of the residents of Toronto and do public education,” said Kwame Addo, who temporarily took the helm from predecessor Fiona Crean after she stepped down last year when her request for more resources and a contract extension were questioned.

Crean often came under fire from former mayor Rob Ford and others on council for investigations that probed council’s civic appointments by and scandal at Toronto Community Housing (TCH).

Addo, releasing his first annual report Thursday, says that kind of focus continues undeterred.

“If you’re in this type of work, you don’t want to be seen as being too chummy,” he said.

The total number of complaints handled by the office decreased from 2,230 in 2014 to 1,802 last year.

But Addo said a spike of several hundred complaints about the annual “Ford Fest” BBQ and hundreds more on an ongoing investigation into TCH accounted for higher than normal numbers in 2014.

With those temporary spikes removed, Addo said complaints are “continuing to rise at a steady state.”

Investigations in 2015 included a finding of security failures with guards used as Ford’s personal bodyguards; that paramedic services was not doing enough to support workers suffering psychologically as a result of their job; and red tape in accessing city services or obtaining licences.

Work in the ombudsman’s office also saved one woman $400 after she was overcharged for a large garbage bin instead of a medium one and reversed a $60 parking ticket for a courier after a conflict of city signage on where parking was allowed, Addo said.

He said recent external reviews on accountability offices were a “recognition of our worth” after movement on council, including support from Tory, to look at combining the city’s watchdog offices.

At council’s request, dean of York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School Lorne Sossin reviewed the role of the ombudsman and the city’s two other accountability offices.

“He concluded that the Toronto accountability functions are working effectively and efficiently and that Toronto’s accountability regime remains the leading the structure of municipal government oversight in Canada,” Addo said.