Yep, he was a real force to be reckonded with, and still is. Not too many folks know that after he brought out the midnight bulldozers to level Murphy field and subsequently "left public service," he went to work for the financial interests behind the Charger Stadium reconstruction and then he was heavily involved in bringing the PETCO project to fruition.
Some folks got the feeling that he was in the pocket of certain outside interests for much of the last months he was being employed by the city to look out for the city's interests only. That's the kind of stuff that, to a suspicious taxpayer, gives graft a bad name. However, looking back at what's gone on after McGrory's left, I can't say that things appear to have materially improved in any respect.
McGrory laid the groundwork for much of the current troubles. Frankly, I think the win for the "strong mayor" form came at a bad time. McGrory's successor, Michael Uberuaga, was a complete non-entity and did nothing to improve matters. Lamont Ewell, on the other hand, made some good, tough decisions (e.g., cleaning out a whole bunch of managerial deadwood). Had he decided to stay (and the "strong mayor" vote pretty much forced his hand), I think he would have continued the cleanup process.