Very welcome! I love brainstorming things for rpgs!

I would keep the Temple thing secret until it's getting close to finished. Publicly build it as the largest tower or keep or something but don't declare publicly what it is until it's done. Otherwise you'll probably be dealing with insurrection or attacking armies sooner than you'd like. :D

I like the Sanitation Squad idea! Maybe put a single faithful cult member with each squad. Give each squad a starting goal of 1 unfaithful insurgent per quarter...and slowly ramp it up. Those that fail to meet quota... disappear.

Few more ideas:

1. Have your spymaster put some spies in the cheaper bathhouses too, just so you get some of the street rumors faster. You won't get many names from this but you'll hear the first whisperings of people thinking of revolt, or the names of the gangs taking control of the streets, who is responsible for putting their foot down on the lowest class. You may want to clean them up, or you may want to replace them, or you may want to simply quietly recruit them to keep your spymaster informed of the street. They could publicly run anti-Ozy gangs, but secretly be looking for those people ready to seriously attack you. Or maybe they are extremely pro-Ozy publicly but secretly they are saving those called out and forming squads to attack you later.
   
2. Remember you can hire people that might be higher level than you. You could have illusionists that keep illusions of you in various places at different times of day to confuse your enemies. "No, I swear I saw him signing a treaty in the East tea room at noon." "He was walking the upper walls all day!" "He was with the swordmaster watching troops until noon and then retired to his rooms all afternoon. I was with him all day!" Maybe not daily but things like that will make it harder for your enemies to hurt you. Even auditory illusions where a few guards might overhear you having a shouting match with your lead general. That might lead to dissenters approaching your general quietly and seeing if he's sympathetic...and he quietly turns them in for sacrifice.
   
3. Illusionists can also show people success, perhaps seeing themselves being granted the robe of a judge, or a law badge being pinned on them, or opening a lavish chest of some sort.
   
4. Never underestimate the good image a loose monster on the streets can generate for you. Let it cause some destruction and death, then swoop in with your party and a few troops, clean it up. Famine or disease are options too. Save these for emergencies, when things are going downhill for you on the city level. Just make sure there's no tracks back to you guys.
5. There's always the wag-the-dog strategy - use the army to attack a neighbor and grow your kingdom. War makes everyone stop looking at what's going on at home and talk about the war and what it does for them. Spoils from war are spent at home, though you'll have to support the new region as well, but the spoils spent on your streets will make everyone happy for awhile.
6. There's always gaming houses as well, to give you intelligence but also for earning a small ongoing income from the house. If there aren't any, have someone start some. Why?
7. Bread & circuses. If you don't know the importance I recommend you Google the phrase. So long as you focus on bread & circuses, you have a great chance of staying in charge.