Plenty has happened in the three years since the city's current council took office - so much that you could be forgiven for having trouble remembering the way things were back in 2008 when the last election campaign was underway.
Heading into a new election, we're taking a look back at where each incumbent began, and stacking the 2008 promises against each candidates' performance.
Garth Frizzell: Frizzell, who runs a software and high-technology services company from a Third Avenue office downtown, was the Prince George Chamber of Commerce president and sat on 10 community committees dealing with issues from employment of persons with disabilities to improving technology in northern B.C. to homelessness and addiction.
"We have always had a strong small-town heart in Prince George," he said upon announcing his candidacy. "Now we are facing big-city issues like homelessness, addiction and gangs.
"We all know that there aren't silver bullets for these problems, but we can't just give up. Everyone else agrees that it's time to move on these issues."
With 7,831 votes, Frizzell was fifth overall and second among the newcomers as Shari Green, who is running for mayor this time around, was second overall with 9,469.
Once elected, Frizzell was named to the Fraser-Fort George Regional District and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
City council has made little progress on the homelessness issue since 2008. During council meetings, he's generally gone with the flow. Frizzell, along with the rest of council, voted to take funding for the RCMP's downtown enforcement unit off the table for 2012 budgert considerations.
However, Frizzell supported the rezoning of the Northern Supportive Recovery Centre for Women on Haldi Road.
Frizzell was the third biggest spender at $20,217 with $9,447 coming from Let's Go Prince George and $7,750 from his own pocket. The remainder came from 11 individuals and three businesses, most contributing $100 to $200, while Otter Properties Ltd. provided $750.
Murry Krause: The executive director of the Central Interior Native Health Society, who earned a B from PACHA, emphasized his experience and his contributions to the community and promised to "strive for a balance of social and economic development."
He had an ambitious platform, which attempted to address "The environment, adequate housing, food security, heritage preservation, recreational opportunities, nurturing culture and the arts, access to a full range of education, social justice for all and a well maintained infrastructure are critical to a communities sense of well being and quality of life; all needing to be accomplished in what would appear to be very challenging economic times."
Krause finished third, drawing 8,418 votes, which was 347 fewers than in 2005, to win a fourth term on council.
Once elected, Krause chaired the finance and audit committee, which struggled to limit tax increases in the face of rising costs and an apparent demand to maintain services at existing levels.
The committee proposed the controversial 2011 tax rate bylaw - a bylaw that was overturned at fourth reading for a revised tax rate.
"We're trying to minimize the impact on residential [properties], but the burden on others was just to high. When you look at the impact of keeping [the residential tax increase] at 4.2 per cent, it just wasn't possible," Krause said when introducing the original tax rate.
Away from council, Krause championed a one-stop health and wellness centre for the homeless and disadvantaged in the downtown area, although away from any retail areas. That was not enough to ease the concerns of downtown business owners but the proposal has since been put on hold due to a lack of provincial government funding.
Krause ran up just $5,409 in expenses, the second least among those elected. Of that, $3,409 came out of his own wallet, while nine individuals contributed $100 to $200 each. He also received $400 from the Prince George and District Labour Council.
Debora Munoz: A clinical neurophysiology technologist at Prince George Regional Hospital, perhaps Munoz's biggest claim to fame was to be the top student in the PACHA report card as the group awarded her an A+ for her views and proposals on air quality.
Munoz said she would continue to work hard to make informed decisions and called herself a "holistic solution-seeker and a long-term thinker."
"It is very important to support and promote small- to medium-sized enterprises and encourage inclusion of local goods and services in economic developments," she said in a statement.
She said issues requiring immediate attention were homelessness and a lack of affordable housing, the state of the downtown, air quality and the level of crime in Prince George.
Munoz was third with 8,033 votes, a big jump after she edged out Ryan Yorston by 46 votes for the eight and final spot in 2005.
Marginal gains have been made on all those fronts, while Munoz fought hard but unsuccessfully in March 2010 to draft a "health protection air quality bylaw" and lobby the provincial government to designate Prince George as an official sensitive airshed.
At one point, the criticism and concern from other councils became so overwhelming that Munoz walked out of the chamber in tears.
Munoz also found herself deep in the controversy over Skakun's leaking of a confidential document to a Prince George media outlet in 2008.
Munoz, who was in a relationship with Skakun prior to her election to council in 2005, was a key witness in the trial as she recounted the day Skakun admitted to her that he was the one who leaked the document.
When Judge Ken Ball had to decide on conflicting testimony between the two related to the date he handed over the document, Ball sided with Munoz's version.
Her campaign cost $12,318, the fifth highest among elected councillors. She received a total of $4,436 from seven trade unions, led by the Health Sciences Association of B.C. at $1,486. Contributions of $100 or more came from 10 individuals and added up to $3,760 and Treasure Cove Casino owner John Major pitched in $1,500 through Otter Properties Ltd. Munoz also spent $1,887 of her own money.
Brian Skakun: In winning his third term, the power engineer at Canfor's Intercontinental pulp mill said he didn't campaign any harder than in past elections, but believed his hard work over the previous three years made the difference.
"What I did in the last three years was take every opportunity, when somebody stopped me in the malls or phoned me or e-mails to do what I could to help address their local issues and I think people really appreciate that," he said.
Skakun received a A from People's Action Coalition on Healthy Air and perhaps most surprising, given his labour-friendly reputation, he won an endorsement from Let's Go Prince George, made up largely of downtown business owners.
During the campaign, Skakun said he stood for a comprehensive crime reduction strategy for the downtown, aggressive marketing of the city's advantages as a place to do business and reside, looking for ways to improve amenities for seniors and youth and to convince the provincial government to contribute to local paving projects.
Skakun topped the polls with 9,650 votes.
Only marginal gains at best have been made on most of Skakun's goals, and the province continues to leave maintenance and construction of local roads to municipalities while concentrating instead on provincial highways - of which Victoria Street is one as Highway 16.
A look back at Skakun cannot go without reference to his decision to leak a confidential document to a Prince George media outlet and the fallout that it caused, notably the long-running trial that ended with him fined $750 for violating provincial privacy legislation.
Skakun is in the process of appealing the fine, but has also apologized to council for failing to try formal channels such as making a formal motion seeking release of the document to the public and appealing to the provincial privacy commissioner. In turn, council backed away from censuring Skakun.
At $13,273, Skakun spent the fourth most on his campaign among successful candidates. Let's Go Prince George provided $7,356, five trade unions contributed a total $3,850, six businesses gave $900 in all and six individuals chipped in a further $800 while Skakun spent $169 of his own money.
Cameron Stolz: The owner of a toys, comics and games store set out a detailed platform prior to the vote, starting with a vow to put a lid on tax increases.
"Under our current city council, property taxes have risen out of control - having jumped 17 per cent in the past two years alone," said Stolz.
"We need to start living within our means and that is something I guarantee I will bring to council."
Stolz said he would deliver decisive leadership and spend smarter on roads and their maintenance, combat potholes, take a common sense approach to air quality and lower the concentration of social services in the downtown.
Once elected, Stolz found himself on the finance and audit committee and stating the case to fellow council members about why various taxes and rates should go up. Stolz sat on a committee that reduced the cost of the new Prince George RCMP building by $6 million.
And on the downtown front, he single-handedly forced the owner of a burned-out building to get the structure torn down by taking the issue to the city's bylaw enforcement officer and then to city council.
Stolz, who finished seventh with 7,329 votes was also notable for not only being the top spender in the race at $26,130 but footing the bill entirely on his own coin.
Dave Wilbur: After missing the mark with 10th place in 2005 with 4,590 votes, Wilbur moved up to eighth and took a council seat with 7,254 votes three years later.
Prior to being elected, the lawyer and community volunteer was a director on the Prince George Airport Authority and the chair of the Fraser-Fort George Community Futures Development Corporation.
Economic development was high on Wilbur's agenda, saying the time for studying ways to redevelop the downtown was over.
"There always seems to be an excuse for not doing something and it's got to the point where there has to be some action," said Wilbur, whose office is downtown.
Once elected, Wilbur spoke out frequently about tax increases which, he said, were a deterrent to new development.
Wilbur also said Fourth and Victoria was the wrong location for the new Prince George RCMP detachment, saying further downtown where security is most needed would be better.
Wilbur lost the fight on location but did sit on a committee to that reduce its cost by $6 million by doing away with underground parking and an emergency operations centre.
At just $6,862, Wilbur was the third lowest spender among elected councillors. In all, 14 individuals contributed a total of $2,2650 in cash and in-kind services while $500 was contributed by Majestic Management. Wilbur covered the balance.
