Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert tugged at his suit and seated himself, Dallas City Council members flanking him. His face bore a scowl, and his eyes seemed to flash.

RICHARD MICHAEL PRUITT/DMN

It certainly hasn't all been a piece of cake for Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert – seen here helping celebrate Neiman Marcus' 100th anniversary on Sept. 10 – but early assessments of his leadership have been positive from both supporters and opponents.

"Every one of us on the City Council will focus on the future and are determined to address the opportunities and the challenges that lie ahead," Mr. Leppert said Oct. 1, two days short of his 100th day in office, the day when the federal government indicted 16 people after a years-long investigation into corruption at City Hall. "We're resolved to move forward on the important issues that face our city."

While this full-steam-ahead approach to the largest government scandal in Dallas history bewildered some Dallasites, including Mr. Leppert's predecessor, Laura Miller, it's hardly surprising. In fact, it's vintage Tom Leppert.

He's the man, after all, whom Dallasites elected in June on an ambitious platform of reducing crime, improving education, corralling tax increases and injecting visionary leadership into City Hall. He'd be aggressive, Mr. Leppert assured voters. And in the process, he would unite people, not instigate needless division.

In these regards, Mr. Leppert's most loyal supporters and staunchest critics alike applaud his early performance.

They marvel at his frenetic work schedule, which on a given day may have him attending pre-7 a.m. breakfast meetings and post-9 p.m. debates.

Council members, meanwhile, cite his analytical approach to political issues and policy decisions. They love his frequent private meetings with them. And longtime representatives can't recall a council so united in word and deed behind top city priorities like policing and economic development.

Even former mayoral campaign rival Ed Oakley stands impressed. During Dallas' mayoral runoff, Mr. Oakley painted Mr. Leppert as a political neophyte – he had never held elected office – who would slow governmental progress.

"But Tom's doing a good job. He's had a lot of big shoes to fill, and he's done well. I hear he's keeping a grueling schedule because he's trying to fulfill his promises," Mr. Oakley said.

Tests of Mr. Leppert's governing philosophy arrived early.

He found himself in late June presiding over a City Council with eight freshman members – the most in recent Dallas history – including himself. Save for a brief vacation, the new mayor ignored the council's traditional July recess and dove into work immediately. He even called the council back in the midst of their break for a two-day retreat at a secluded ranch in Wise County to build policy consensus and strengthen interpersonal ties.

To date, it's worked: Notoriously late-starting council meetings now start on time, at 9 a.m. sharp. Council debates are all but devoid of the member-on-member verbal attacks that frequently plagued past councils. The atmosphere is decidedly more boardroom, less romper room.

Such a situation has helped Mr. Leppert score key political victories.

In vigorously advocating last month the repeal of "verified response," a policy intended to conserve scant police resources by requiring independent confirmation of activated commercial burglar alarms, the mayor outflanked policy proponent Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia and pulled a solid majority of council members to his side. And he repealed the policy, which he said sent a bad message to business, despite the objections of popular Police Chief David Kunkle – clearly, a political risk.

Mr. Leppert also coalesced nearly the entire council behind a goal of funding 200 new police officer positions in the 2007-08 city budget, on which council members worked during most of August and September. An increase almost unthinkable three years ago, it proved to be a practically uncontroversial element of the $2.65 billion budget.

But developments outside Mr. Leppert's control have threatened his agenda-driven style, particularly District 14 council member Angela Hunt's successful petition drive to hold a referendum Nov. 6 on the Trinity River Corridor project's planned toll road.

Mr. Leppert, a supporter of the established "balanced vision plan" that calls for a high-speed toll road built within the corridor's levee walls, faced a decision: Ceremonially object to Ms. Hunt's Proposition 1, or genuinely fight against it. He chose the latter.

"In some ways, I put myself into it; in some ways, I was put into it," Mr. Leppert said. "It's just not enough to just say, 'Gosh, I don't like this.' You've got to pull together people and solutions that address issues that you wish didn't exist. You can't close your eyes. You can't bury your head in the sand. That's not how you lead."

One of Mr. Leppert's other responsibilities as Dallas' new leader is to create City Council committees to vet and preliminarily vote on issues headed for the full council.

His battle with Ms. Hunt over the Trinity toll road commencing, Mr. Leppert declined to name her chairwoman or vice chairwoman of any of the seven committees he created last month – all other council members received such a posting – and didn't name her to the council's Trinity River Corridor Committee, either.

Mr. Leppert said he pored over the long-delayed decision, ultimately placing council members in positions where he believed they'd be best suited. And Ms. Hunt's exclusion from the Trinity committee came because her opinions didn't reflect those of the council's 14 other members, Mr. Leppert said.

Ms. Hunt, when asked about Mr. Leppert's 100-day performance, simply said: "The atmosphere at council meetings has been more congenial since Mayor Leppert took office. I think that's been a very positive change."

Mr. Leppert acknowledges nobody's a perfect politician.

"You make mistakes. If you haven't made mistakes, then you probably haven't made any decisions," he said.

One of his key campaign promises, for example, involved fighting to keep the city tax rate flat – or even reducing it. That didn't happen, as the council last month voted to increase the tax rate by 2.6 percent. Typical homeowners should expect somewhere between a $20 and $30 jump in their city property tax bill next year.

He noted that but for Dallas' 2006 bond program, which voters overwhelmingly approved, the 2007-08 tax rate would have actually decreased. But paying down debt on the bonds is part of the budget.

"I didn't get it done. It's that simple," Mr. Leppert said of his taxation goal. "But we're going to get there. I feel very good about that. Next year, I want to keep taxes flat, and hopefully, reduce them."

There's also been a learning curve in transitioning from chairman and chief executive of the construction company Turner Corp., in which he rarely visited City Hall, to serving as the institution's top elected leader.

In part to help him navigate the government's bureaucracy, he hired veteran WFAA-TV (Channel 8) City Hall reporter Chris Heinbaugh as his chief of staff, and longtime political consultant and self-proclaimed political junkie Paula Blackmon as his deputy chief of staff.

Some of his campaign goals, such as hastening economic development and improving educational opportunities for Dallas students, are in the "building a foundation stage," Mr. Leppert said. Dallas' southern sector won't be revitalized overnight, a Dallas Convention Center hotel won't be built immediately and not every campaign promise he made will be realized in full within 100 days, he noted.

While disagreeing with Mr. Leppert on verified response, Dr. Garcia praised the new mayor for his drive, initiative and efforts at consensus-building.

"He listens. It's refreshing. And he's a very analytical person. But he's opening up more and more. He's even joking with us a little bit now," Dr. Garcia said.

Yes, Mr. Leppert says, he is analytical. He likes to get up early and work out. Spend some quiet time with his family at night. He'd never be caught dead on Dallas' electric jazz club circuit. The mayor prefers light Christian rock.

But don't pigeonhole him, Mr. Leppert warns as he enters the next 1,360 or so days of his term.

"Inherently, I bring a good balance going forward. That's why I think I've been successful," Mr. Leppert said. "I'm clearly analytical. I want to be methodical. I want to be organized. At the same time, I'm not afraid to make a decision, especially when we have to move quickly on an issue and go forward."