Mayor-elect Naheed Nenshi shares the belief that the next city council will be less prone to legislative deadlock than the last one. (CBC)

As outgoing alderman Bob Hawkesworth packed up his office Tuesday, he forecasted a city council less prone to logjams.

The longtime Ward 4 alderman, whose mayoral campaign ended last week when he dropped out and threw his support to third-place Barb Higgins, said he thinks the new municipal representatives will be a more amiable bunch.

"When you have four or five new faces, that absolutely has an impact on the dynamics of that group," Hawkesworth said.

The outgoing council was frequently labelled dysfunctional, often voting 8-7.

Mayor-elect Naheed Nenshi, who will chair those council meetings, shares Hawkesworth's expectations.

Nine councillors were re-elected, members of the old council that a still-campaigning Nenshi had called broken.

"I've been very careful to talk about the system of council, not about individuals and about individual decisions, and I'm really looking forward to working with them all," he said Tuesday.

Political scientist and Mount Royal University professor Duane Bratt said the new group should be better if only because of who won't be there.

"[Mayor Dave] Bronconnier's leaving and he was the glue that kept a lot of those coalitions together," said Bratt. "And … his major ally, Linda Fox-Mellway, is also gone. And his largest critic, Ric McIver, is now gone."

The new council will be sworn in on Monday and committee jobs will be determined the following day, preparing council members for their first full meeting next month.