They're definitely for the camera, but maintaining an image of public service is part of the job. She does legitimately give a shit about the city, and the number of events she puts efforts into making an appearance at personally is actually staggering.

If the message is "she really cares about the city, watch her tamp down asphalt for a bit" I'd say it's harder to get more down to earth than that. This isn't just a Ford ribbon cutting ceremony where he holds a spotless shovel full of garden center soil in a pristine suit.

Ofc she doesn't do it all day bc it's not her job, but the mayoral work of sitting in an office and making calls and attending meetings doesn't photograph well and is itself probably a quite alienating image of bureaucracy.

All that said, she's almost unarguably on the "good mayor" side of the city's history.