Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien said he expects to spend his first few days back on the job being briefed on city issues after a judge acquitted him of two charges of influence peddling.

"The office is kind of the pulse of the city, so I have a lot of catching up to do. There's hundreds of things that go through that office every week. Much of it you don't read about, so there's a lot of catching up to do," O'Brien told reporters when he arrived at Ottawa City Hall on Thursday.

O'Brien was found not guilty of two influence peddling charges stemming from allegations he offered to help his rival, Terry Kilrea, get a job with the National Parole Board in exchange for dropping out of the 2006 mayoral race.

On Wednesday, Justice Douglas Cunningham concluded there was no evidence that O'Brien had the influence to offer Kilrea a job with the parole board.

While the judge said he suspects O'Brien may have pretended to have influence, that conclusion could not be reached beyond a reasonable doubt.

Among the issues facing the mayor are flooding in Kanata, a decision on Lansdowne Live, a new plan for transit and an upcoming budget.

City councillors said they are looking forward to getting back to work without the uncertainty of the mayor's future hanging over their heads.

As O'Brien returns to City Hall, some think he will approach city issues differently.

"I hope he comes back with a new confidence, a new toughness that will really help out and I think he can do it," said Frank Reid, a municipal commentator and former regional politician.

In terms of moving forward, Jim Watson said the mayor and council need to isolate their top priorities.

"The city and the mayor and the council have to pick two or three key priorities, stick to them, and start achieving some real goals to allow the taxpayers some confidence that things are moving in the City of Ottawa again," said Watson, Ontario's municipal affairs minister and former mayor of Ottawa.

With an election slotted for next year, O'Brien said he needs about six months before he'll decide if he'll run again.

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Norman Fetterley