Until 2009, the mayor of Zagreb was elected by the city assembly. In the elections held in the spring of 2009, the mayor was directly elected for the first time. In the second round, Bandić competed against Josip Kregar, who ran on an independent platform. Bandić won the second round, with 62 percent of the vote to Kregar's 37 percent. In October 2009, Bandić visited the site of a World War II partisan massacre on the island of Daksa with the Croatian Bishops' Conference. On 29 October 2009, Bandić proposed an exceptional budget, with a proposal to hold a referendum on the building of a new football stadium, which in the end was rejected. Among those voting against the budget was his own party.