The year 2008 started with a fresh council, a mayor with a mandate and a Valentine's Day pledge of partnership in Pittsburgh's halls of power. It ended with debate over who in city government can most accurately count to 10.

In between were stormy debates and pledges of progress that didn't always pan out. But top administration officials said on New Year's Eve that they've planted seeds that will sprout this year.

"All in all, I'm relatively happy," said Public Safety Director Michael Huss. "The number of homicides concerns me, obviously." An emerging anti-gang effort could help, he said.

"I think we've made some significant advances," said Operations Director Art Victor. "The city's cleaner. I think we've gotten more efficient."

Critics disagree. "We see a lot of announcements, but I don't see a lot of follow-through," said Council President Doug Shields, a potential mayoral challenger in this year's election.

The year began with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, emboldened by his November election win with 63 percent of the vote, set to serve out the last two years of the late Mayor Bob O'Connor's term. Council -- infused with new blood in the form of members Ricky Burgess, Patrick Dowd and Bruce Kraus -- re-elected Mr. Shields as its leader.

On Valentine's Day, council, Mr. Ravenstahl and a representative of newly elected Controller Michael Lamb gathered in the neutral zone between the City-County Building's 5th Floor wings and signed the Proclamation of Pledges to Improve Governance in Pittsburgh.

Spearheaded by Mr. Dowd, it was an effort to focus city leaders on seven priorities: cooperating with other governments, reducing long-term obligations, setting standards for basic services, fairly distributing city resources, planning for development, becoming environmentally friendly and ensuring high ethics.

"This is not mountain moving," Mr. Dowd said then. "The point is, we're saying to the public, this is what we want to do."

The tenuous sense of unity almost instantly gave way to controversy over a billboard permit.

Lamar Advertising wanted to put a 19-foot-by-58-foot electronic sign on the Grant Street Transportation Center, Downtown. Urban Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Pat Ford helped Lamar get a no-bid lease and a permit from zoning officials without a public hearing. His theory: Since the firm was giving up six vinyl billboards, it would be a fair trade, like sign swaps made under prior administrations.

Five council members didn't buy it, and filed zoning challenges in March. Those challenges, and the April revelation that Mr. Ford received Christmas gifts from a Lamar executive, eventually led to his resignation and his allegation of a "culture of deception and corruption" in the administration. Mr. Shields called for a federal probe.

The half-built billboard was nixed last month by the Zoning Board of Adjustment in a decision that's likely to be appealed.

April saw Mr. Ravenstahl make perhaps the boldest shift of his tenure, when he joined Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato in calling for a referendum to merge their governments. The mayor said the region "can no longer afford the status quo" -- but the General Assembly hasn't started weighing legislation allowing the vote.

In May, Mr. Lamb made the city's fat wallet official with a finding that it ended 2007 with $89.5 million in the savings account. Mr. Ravenstahl promised to spend some of that on more street paving, but scaled that back when asphalt prices soared.

Council-mayor relations seesawed in June. Mr. Peduto's campaign finance limits won council approval, but supporters couldn't override a mayoral veto.

By contrast, registry of domestic partnerships, including long-term gay relationships, passed council and won the mayor's signature. There was no rush to register. In the second half of the year, just four couples signed up, according to city Personnel Department records.

June saw the administration gather suburban officials on the South Side and offer to share trash collection, animal control and other services. So far, there are no takers. In November, though, some city and suburban officials sat down to discuss forming a new Congress of Neighboring Communities.

In July, Mr. Ravenstahl went to Allentown to announce the movement of the Zone 3 police station from the South Side Flats to the hilltop, and the reopening of the curfew center. He said both would be done by New Year's Day.

No so fast. The new station is now expected to open in early spring. This month, the administration plans to ask firms for proposals to run a curfew center.

Council-mayor relations reached a low point in August, when Mr. Shields accused Personnel Director Barbara Trant of offering "a pack of lies" in response to his questions about a stalled study on fairness in the city salary structure. The contract with consultant Evergreen Solutions to do the study was finally signed Oct. 31.

In September, Mr. Ravenstahl unveiled hoped-for changes in state law that would help fund cities' employee pensions. The question is whether Harrisburg can undo the damage done by the stock market's plunge, which contributed to the city pension fund's loss of $124 million through November.

As summer ended, and a rash of shootings worsened, public safety concerns dominated city government. Mr. Ravenstahl and Mr. Burgess brought in City University of New York Professor David Kennedy to craft a plan to target the most violent mini-gangs. It's due mid-year.

Legislation governing a proposed security camera network won council passage. Finding a contractor to build the system has proved harder. An initial timeline called for picking a firm by May 28, 2008. Mr. Huss met with four finalist firms on Tuesday.

"We want to make sure that we get it right," he said of the time lag.

In October, Mr. Shields, Mr. Peduto and Mr. Kraus introduced legislation requiring that gun owners whose firearms are lost or stolen promptly report that to the police. It became law last month without the signature of the mayor, who said he didn't think it could be enforced.

Meanwhile, the city logged its most murders since 1993.

Fall is budget time, and Mr. Ravenstahl's $348 million plan won the approval of state-picked overseers and council, though not without debate over an ill-defined plan to use $45.3 million to lower future debt payments.

The fireworks came at the end, as the mayor used his line-item veto power to scratch out $122,655 council tried to shift to hire its own designated attorney, and to put video of its meetings online. Mr. Shields said the veto came after the 10-day time limit in the city charter had passed, and he and Mr. Ravenstahl accused each other of having, as the mayor put it in an e-mail, "trouble counting to 10."

Council overrode the veto.

Sparring city leaders must now write a new fiscal recovery plan, chase federal stimulus funds for infrastructure work and consider new rules on officials' receipt of gifts. All that will occur side-by-side with possible races for four council seats and the mayor's job.

Mr. Victor and Mr. Huss said they'll keep trying to improve the city's departments. Mr. Victor pointed to better communication among departments and authorities, increased surprise inspections of facilities and a revamped snow clearing fleet. Not progressing yet: the automation of priorities for paving streets.

Mr. Huss said he's focused on training and equipping building inspectors, improving coordination of firefighters and paramedics, and moving forward with the anti-gang push and camera deployment.

So did that Valentine's Day unity have any lasting impact?

"We've made some progress here and there," said Mr. Dowd yesterday. "Are we moving toward a particular place? That's unclear to me."