SAM KATZ IS NO ROB FORD.

Unlike Ford, Katz knew when enough was enough after more than a decade in office. He announced in June that he will not a be a candidate in Winnipeg’s October municipal election. Ford, who has been dogged with a string of recreational drug- and alcohol-related scandals over the past 18 months, has yet to learn that lesson.

Certainly, Katz has had his own run of controversies, many of which dealt with the intersection between his mayoral office and his private business dealings.

The laundry list includes a controversial land-swap deal in which the city built a new firefighter/paramedic station on land owned by Shindico Realty Inc., a company whose principal owners used to be business partners with the mayor.

There was also the cost for the new police headquarters, which swelled from an original price of $135 million to $210 million.

And then there was the Manitoba judge who concluded that Katz displayed “bad political and ethical behaviour,” even as she cleared him of violating conflict-of-interest rules.

The questions haven’t stop there. There also were several issues involving Katz’s best friend, Phil Sheegl, who coincidentally happened to be the city’s chief administrative officer until he finally resigned over his role in the fire-hall schmozzle earlier this year.

And, just recently, it was reported that Katz received a sizable tax credit for his 4,400-square-foot Phoenix mansion because it was listed as his “primary” residence. Wait, what? How did I miss the announcement about Phoenix becoming a Winnipeg suburb?

This is a remarkable turnaround for a man whom many considered to be unbeatable after winning three consecutive elections (two regular votes and one byelection) by wide margins. Even when Katz was at the height of his troubles, exasperated Winnipeggers often took solace by saying, “At least Rob Ford is not our mayor.”

Katz said all the right things in June during his impromptu press conference announcing he would not run again: he always said he wouldn’t run for more than two full terms, and he wanted to spend more time with his three young children.

But that’s only part of the story. Katz also is a very competitive person. And as much as he likes mentioning instances in which he has kept his word, he also doesn’t like to lose.

And with pre-election polls suggesting Katz would finish anywhere from second to fourth in the Oct. 22 vote, he decided not to take the chance of going down in infamy as only the second incumbent mayor in the city’s history to lose an election.

Winnipeggers won’t need to pass the hat for their outgoing mayor, however. Before Katz got into politics, he was best known as a former concert promoter who brought the reincarnated Winnipeg Goldeyes minor-league baseball team back to town after an absence of 25 years. With an annual players payroll of about $100,000 and ballpark revenue well into the millions of dollars, Katz, the team’s majority owner, needs politics like he needs a hole in the head.

Unlike Ford, Katz made the right call.

© 2014 Investment Executive. All rights reserved.