tolerance and multiculturalism. At the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, at every mention of So's name, there was a tremendous applause from the crowd, which became progressively louder with each occurrence. Planning and development So presided over a number of major developments throughout his second term. The most significant of these include the refurbishment of the city's key shopping complex, the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre; construction of the council's second building, Council House 2, the first Six Green Star-rated building in Australia; development, in partnership with the State Government, of the new Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre; and refurbishment of Melbourne's key shopping precinct Bourke Street Mall. During So's term, the council also regained from the State Government jurisdiction over Melbourne's new waterfront, Melbourne Docklands. Controversies In 2007, So was criticised for redundancies of staff at the Melbourne City Council after an efficiency review found that the council had a A$4.2 million budget discrepancy. So used his casting vote to defeat a "vote of no confidence" by opposition councillors over the incident. Following the vote, opposition councillors stepped up their attack and criticised So for not meeting with the Dalai Lama during the latter's 2007 visit, and claimed So had also tried to stop them from meeting the Dalai Lama. World Mayor So's popularity in office resulted in him being named World Mayor for 2006. He won the contest ahead of Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen and Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed. World Mayor cited, amongst other things, the successful staging of the 2006 Commonwealth Games and So's popularity among the young population of Melbourne as a reason for his victory. In its verdict, the judging panel described So as "possibly the first city leader to enjoy 'cult status. So told the media he was "delighted to be elected" and that "the honour belongs to the amazing people of this wonderful city and the hard-working team at the City of Melbourne". Retirement as Lord Mayor Speculation had been rife that So was preparing to stand for the Lord Mayoral election in November 2008. Rumours surfaced that former Victoria Premier Jeff Kennett might be able to challenge So effectively and Kennett confirmed that several Liberal Party members had approached him on this matter. In late September 2008, Kennett announced that he would not run for Lord Mayor. On 1 October 2008, So officially announced that he would not seek re-election,