One reason may be the surprising willingness he´s shown to pursue bold strategies to tackle big problems.

The best-known example of that grew out of an early Ebrard vow that "every building used to sell drugs will become the property of the city to establish drug prevention and rehabilitation centers, community centers, and cultural spaces."

In February, he did just that, expropriating a large housing complex in the heart of the Tepito neighborhood´s black market district.

The residents were evicted on the grounds that the property was being used for drug sales and stockpiling illicit merchandise. The order was carried out within days with the help of hundreds of city police, after which the building was immediately razed to make room for a community center.

The move was controversial, but backed by a majority of Mexico City residents (60 percent, according to a Reforma poll) and sent a clear signal that the administration was serious about both slowing crime and rehabilitating troubled neighborhoods.

Ebrard followed up the expropriation by ordering all illegal street vendors out of a key Tepito street they had occupied in its entirety for years.

Those steps, preliminary as they were, lent credence to an Ebrard promise earlier this month that otherwise might have been dismissed as fantasy.

The mayor said all illegal street vendors will be removed from the Historic Center - not by the end of his administration but by the end of this year.

In transportation, López Obrador had focused on the huge and expensive second-level program for the Periférico, the city´s principle freeway.

But Ebrard is paying more attention to public transportation and the city´s once-proud Metro mass transit system.

Ebrard has announced new Metro construction, starting with a 12th line to be built starting in 2008. The challenge will be to revive some of the major transfer stations, such as Pantitlán, Observatorio, Tacubaya and Cuatro Caminos, that have noticeably deteriorated.

Ebrard´s shift from concrete to mass transit is also displayed in his announced expansion of the dedicated-lane Metrobus system, including an extension of the existing lane along Insurgentes Ave, and 12 more routes to be built during his term.

The perceived success of Ebrard´s term as mayor will probably hinge on crime reduction, far and away the top priority of his constituents. Ebrard, a former police chief, has begun to attack the problem with mostly traditional tools, but is using more of them.

He has begun to add 4,000 new police officers per year, to implement the "community policing" concept, and to install 4,000 surveillance cameras across the city.

In another twist, Ebrard has focused much attention so far on re-invigorating the capital´s tourism industry, concentrating on increased tourist safety, among other things.

The tourism efforts come after an unexpected reconciliation between Ebrard and the city´s chapter of the National Chamber of Commerce (Canaco-DF). Ebrard is a member of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD).

Canaco-DF president Lorenzo Ysasi was furious with Alejandro Encinas, Ebrard´s immediate predecessor, for allowing López Obrador´s post-election occupation of Reforma for 40 days.

But Ysasi offered to bury the hatchet shortly after Ebrard took office, and one result of the new relationship has been the tourism campaign.

Ebrard has necessarily found a way to skirt the issue of López Obrador´s alternative government and its denial of President Calderón´s legitimacy.

And he´s done it without renouncing his loyalty to López Obrador or backing off from his contention that Calderón´s victory was tainted.

Ebrard´s first major political challenge could come as early as this week, when protests from conservatives are expected to begin over the PRD-dominated city legislative assembly´s pending passage of a law legalizing first-trimester abortions.