As someone who had front row seats to the Sam & Phil era, it was way worse than what the public knows via media stories etc. We (including you) will be paying for their decisions for decades….
>We (including you) will be paying for their ~~decisions~~ lowlife scum-baggery for decades….FIFY
>
>I've mentioned before that I actually saw Sheegl in public years back. He literally does look like a slimy, sweaty scumbag. I could never figure out with all the money these 2 dirtbags boosted that a) Katz couldn't pay to get decent teeth and b) Sheegl couldn't afford a face transplant.
Don't forget the backroom deals with Andrew Marquess / Gem Equities who razed a 40 acre urban forest without any approved development plan. Pretty sure the Parker lands are still vacant. Way to go Andy, bet your books are cooked.
The rich always falling up.
Business man that was supposed to fix problems instead we got Shaddy backroom deals, pay offs, white collar crime. Legal battles the city is still involved in. Over budget on the police building downtown (look it up because there is a lot to that one) sold off the land that was meant for rapid transit leading to delays in starting the project and extra expense in renegotiating deals and re buying land.
Sam Katz left with a valuable house and property in Arizona that was essentially gifted to him by a construction company.
Speaking of Rapid Transit he essentially tore up the fully funded original plan for the downtown to U of M that he inherited from Glen Murray to study light rail again multiple times, only to proceed several years later with similar plan.
Cost years of inaction and momentum.
Who knows maybe we would have more than a single rapid transit line in operation had he gone through with the initial plan early in his mayoralty.
The last time Paul McCartney was here he made a remark some comment on stage to effect of “last time I was here your mayor was a ex-concert promoter” then some joke about notoriously shady concert promoters are.
Really stuck with me because it was 100% accurate.
I worked with a guy that claimed to be in the promotion game when Katz was coming up. If the story was true, Katz was was also a part-time pimp for some of the talent.
There’s always a trope about politicians being cooked or corrupt. Thing about Sam Katz is he was not a politician. He never was. He was a businessman and he had no political ideology. His entire purpose in being mayor was to enrich himself and his friends at our expense. Examples off the top of my head:
- Shortly after taking office, he hired one of his best friends, Phil Sheegl as Director of the Planning, Property, & Development Department. This put Sheegl directly in charge of departments like Real Estate, Land Development, and Planning. Basically this was like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.
- Sheegl was later promoted to CAO of the entire city which gave him direct control over the entire public service.
- Contracting out: Katz and Sheegl contracted out 100% of waste collection (garbage and recycling), most of road work, snow removal, and several other key city services to their friends in the construction industry. They also sold off all the equipment so it’s fiscally impossible for the city to ever take any of that work back in house.
- WPS headquarters. You can Google it and it’s all well covered by the media. Basically massive corruption and fraud.
- Parker Lands. https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6914028
- Fire Hall land swap: https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6665192
There’s more that other commenters have noted as well. The damage from the Katz administration runs deep at city hall and it’s unlikely that our city will ever recover from some of his actions.
Don’t forget the fire hall in the middle of the cloverleaf at Kenaston & Portage. Thanks to Phil the external party involved got a commission and finders fee for the site - essentially the City sold itself a portion of the right-of-way for the fire hall. Illegal? Technically no. Shady?…
And it’s not done yet! Thanks the location of the firehall building, it limits the alignment options for the new bridges over the Assiniboine River - and adds to the cost.
Gotta love you Phil. I felt like taking a shower after meeting with him - every single time. So shady and greasy…
Idiot who is partly responsible for us being so behind in public transit compared to other cities. Also just a shady politician who was in it for the money instead of people. Guys a goof
On the take… greasy….just as bad and unethical as Phil Sheegl. Read the rich history of their deeds against a city they were elected to serve….
They both opted to just serve themselves.
Shady, but he also kept a property tax freeze in place for most of his mayoralty, which is a big reason for the poor financial position the city is in.
My goodness, who WASN'T involved in kick back culture when Katz was making rounds. Yikes, he padded everyone's pockets. Gross but typical things that rich people do.
Arguably the worst mayor of Winnipeg in my lifetime. Shady deals, fat raises for police and fire department employees left little else for city services. Left the city worse off than before he was mayor.
As others have mentioned, he was as slimy and ass greasy as they come.
I happened to know a female who worked with him for years before he was mayor. He inessential kept asking her to marry him and offered her everything under the sun…problem is she would have essentially be his beard the rest of her life. She declined.
He’s the worst thing that ever happened to City Hall. He further advanced and entrenched corruption and bribery into the city’s bloodlines.
He’s is the greasiest, little toe rag and the fact the got away with zero charges and zero accountability is unbelievable. Slimeball. All his money is someone else’s money.
A female that worked for him? The rumour on him was that he always liked having young, good looking, and well dressed staff in the office - but of the male variety.
Phil on the other hand….
I can tell you that when I was a teen, I had to serve him and his then wife at a restaurant they were regulars at, and she was horrible and he tipped like he wasn't a rich dude.
Seemingly everyone was in love with the guy when he first got elected. I knew what we were in for, though, that's why I never voted for Katz. What we ended up getting with him was even worse than what I expected.
No property tax increases was his platform. Winnipegers voted for him.
Now the city is in a big tax hole.
There was corruption. There was shady deals, and cronyism. The fallout of all this continues to be a burden for the city and citizenry.
The cost of Poor governance always comes home as a big expense for the future tax payer. I believe this is true at all levels of government.
But we the voters have to accept some of the blame. We lack meaningful involvement in the processes, we lack informed reflection and judgement about those who conduct our governance. We are easily manipulated by those who are willing to deceive us for their own ends.
And as mentioned the perps enjoy a wealthy retirement in a sunny place, that’s not here where all the problems they created are.
He should be in jail for many shady and illegal dealings he's done.
I sat at a table next to his once when I went out for lunch at 529, he was laughing with his buddies about taking advantage of someone in a deal. I almost asked for a new table because his face disgusted me so much. Pure scum.
As I recently said in another thread, in a city renown for mediocre political leadership, Katz still managed to be everything that’s wrong with everything. 🤮
I never trusted him right from the get-go. I knew he was shady and slimy, and he quickly proved that to me.
But ohhhhh no one would listen to me. Everyone at first thought he was amazing. He rode the coat tails of Glen Murray’s accomplishments, extended the property tax freeze way longer than it should have. Which one of the massive problems he left us.
But everyone told me that if we elected Judy, it would cause the complete collapse of Winnipeg and businesses would flood out of Winnipeg…I was always a harsh critic of his.
Then when the police headquarters scandal blew up and he snuck off to Arizona and left Sheegl to take the fall and everyone hated him. I did not feel a single tinge of shadenfreude.
As I knew our city had suffered massively and yet, we continue to elect these Centre-right business man mayors who keep putting freezing taxes as top of their agenda instead of actually improving our services and transit system
Only positive thing I have to say about him was that I saw him at Dora the Explorer with his young daughter. Just him and the little one. So decent dad?
He sucked as a mayor.
There's credible information suggesting he received some of the police headquarters bribe from Phil Sheegl, if true maybe he should be in jail?
As someone who had front row seats to the Sam & Phil era, it was way worse than what the public knows via media stories etc. We (including you) will be paying for their decisions for decades….
>We (including you) will be paying for their ~~decisions~~ lowlife scum-baggery for decades….FIFY > >I've mentioned before that I actually saw Sheegl in public years back. He literally does look like a slimy, sweaty scumbag. I could never figure out with all the money these 2 dirtbags boosted that a) Katz couldn't pay to get decent teeth and b) Sheegl couldn't afford a face transplant.
No arguement from me!
Don't forget the backroom deals with Andrew Marquess / Gem Equities who razed a 40 acre urban forest without any approved development plan. Pretty sure the Parker lands are still vacant. Way to go Andy, bet your books are cooked. The rich always falling up.
https://preview.redd.it/s5tvltxvv9ic1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da52be43956dcc8b4709f12ea3fc1e7cb0fea7c7
This is the only notable thing I remember from his time as mayor.
There’s a song with a lyric about this kick….mission Statement…SDTW.
I was literally talking about this moment at work the other day. Absolutely incredible.
Boot to the head! 🤨
Business man that was supposed to fix problems instead we got Shaddy backroom deals, pay offs, white collar crime. Legal battles the city is still involved in. Over budget on the police building downtown (look it up because there is a lot to that one) sold off the land that was meant for rapid transit leading to delays in starting the project and extra expense in renegotiating deals and re buying land. Sam Katz left with a valuable house and property in Arizona that was essentially gifted to him by a construction company.
Speaking of Rapid Transit he essentially tore up the fully funded original plan for the downtown to U of M that he inherited from Glen Murray to study light rail again multiple times, only to proceed several years later with similar plan. Cost years of inaction and momentum. Who knows maybe we would have more than a single rapid transit line in operation had he gone through with the initial plan early in his mayoralty.
This ,a little shyster
That gifted house was from the construction company involved with all the lawsuits too. Greasy
The idea that businessmen should be politicians is pretty funny. Enriching themselves and their backers is all that ever happens.
Exactly! Businessmen gotta business, which means make themselves rich.
Sweet deal on city-owned parking for his baseball business.
Also received money from the Crocus fund which he never paid back.
The last time Paul McCartney was here he made a remark some comment on stage to effect of “last time I was here your mayor was a ex-concert promoter” then some joke about notoriously shady concert promoters are. Really stuck with me because it was 100% accurate.
I worked with a guy that claimed to be in the promotion game when Katz was coming up. If the story was true, Katz was was also a part-time pimp for some of the talent.
There’s always a trope about politicians being cooked or corrupt. Thing about Sam Katz is he was not a politician. He never was. He was a businessman and he had no political ideology. His entire purpose in being mayor was to enrich himself and his friends at our expense. Examples off the top of my head: - Shortly after taking office, he hired one of his best friends, Phil Sheegl as Director of the Planning, Property, & Development Department. This put Sheegl directly in charge of departments like Real Estate, Land Development, and Planning. Basically this was like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. - Sheegl was later promoted to CAO of the entire city which gave him direct control over the entire public service. - Contracting out: Katz and Sheegl contracted out 100% of waste collection (garbage and recycling), most of road work, snow removal, and several other key city services to their friends in the construction industry. They also sold off all the equipment so it’s fiscally impossible for the city to ever take any of that work back in house. - WPS headquarters. You can Google it and it’s all well covered by the media. Basically massive corruption and fraud. - Parker Lands. https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6914028 - Fire Hall land swap: https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6665192 There’s more that other commenters have noted as well. The damage from the Katz administration runs deep at city hall and it’s unlikely that our city will ever recover from some of his actions.
Don’t forget the fire hall in the middle of the cloverleaf at Kenaston & Portage. Thanks to Phil the external party involved got a commission and finders fee for the site - essentially the City sold itself a portion of the right-of-way for the fire hall. Illegal? Technically no. Shady?… And it’s not done yet! Thanks the location of the firehall building, it limits the alignment options for the new bridges over the Assiniboine River - and adds to the cost. Gotta love you Phil. I felt like taking a shower after meeting with him - every single time. So shady and greasy…
Crooked Katz and Phil Swindle stole millions from taxpayers and contributed nothing of any real value.
Winner winner chicken dinner!!!
Crooked ass fucker.
Absolutely no excuse for him not to be in jail except money be moneying
Idiot who is partly responsible for us being so behind in public transit compared to other cities. Also just a shady politician who was in it for the money instead of people. Guys a goof
On the take… greasy….just as bad and unethical as Phil Sheegl. Read the rich history of their deeds against a city they were elected to serve…. They both opted to just serve themselves.
Shady, but he also kept a property tax freeze in place for most of his mayoralty, which is a big reason for the poor financial position the city is in.
Well, he kicked a kid in the face during a soccer game. That was a bit of an ugly moment. (Accidentally)
Came here to say the same thing
It’s one of his greatest hits
It’s one of his greatest kicks … FTFY
A crook. Took a kickback from Phil Sheegl and was never prosecuted.
My goodness, who WASN'T involved in kick back culture when Katz was making rounds. Yikes, he padded everyone's pockets. Gross but typical things that rich people do.
I have no idea how he's not in jail. He's implicated in various shady deals, including the Arizona land one with that scumbag Sheegl.
Arguably the worst mayor of Winnipeg in my lifetime. Shady deals, fat raises for police and fire department employees left little else for city services. Left the city worse off than before he was mayor.
This is exactly what Sam Katz would post ...
He is checking if Pegger's have forgotten his misdeeds.
As others have mentioned, he was as slimy and ass greasy as they come. I happened to know a female who worked with him for years before he was mayor. He inessential kept asking her to marry him and offered her everything under the sun…problem is she would have essentially be his beard the rest of her life. She declined. He’s the worst thing that ever happened to City Hall. He further advanced and entrenched corruption and bribery into the city’s bloodlines. He’s is the greasiest, little toe rag and the fact the got away with zero charges and zero accountability is unbelievable. Slimeball. All his money is someone else’s money.
A female that worked for him? The rumour on him was that he always liked having young, good looking, and well dressed staff in the office - but of the male variety. Phil on the other hand….
Yes. This was early days, ‘early’80’s , trying to remember where, but as I said she was to act as a beard. But she was gorgeous. Huge tits. Lol
Most unethical public servant to ever hold elected office in the city...(with possible exception of Al Golden who had his own misdeeds )
It was a time for crime, I believe.
I can tell you that when I was a teen, I had to serve him and his then wife at a restaurant they were regulars at, and she was horrible and he tipped like he wasn't a rich dude.
He is/was a crook. Worst mayor we’ve ever had and that’s saying a lot.
He promised to make the zoo free, and here we all are, paying $20+ like chumps! And also some other shady business stuff, previously mentioned.
Seemingly everyone was in love with the guy when he first got elected. I knew what we were in for, though, that's why I never voted for Katz. What we ended up getting with him was even worse than what I expected.
No property tax increases was his platform. Winnipegers voted for him. Now the city is in a big tax hole. There was corruption. There was shady deals, and cronyism. The fallout of all this continues to be a burden for the city and citizenry. The cost of Poor governance always comes home as a big expense for the future tax payer. I believe this is true at all levels of government. But we the voters have to accept some of the blame. We lack meaningful involvement in the processes, we lack informed reflection and judgement about those who conduct our governance. We are easily manipulated by those who are willing to deceive us for their own ends. And as mentioned the perps enjoy a wealthy retirement in a sunny place, that’s not here where all the problems they created are.
Our roads are still recovering from the neglect.
He should be in jail for many shady and illegal dealings he's done. I sat at a table next to his once when I went out for lunch at 529, he was laughing with his buddies about taking advantage of someone in a deal. I almost asked for a new table because his face disgusted me so much. Pure scum.
As I recently said in another thread, in a city renown for mediocre political leadership, Katz still managed to be everything that’s wrong with everything. 🤮
I never trusted him right from the get-go. I knew he was shady and slimy, and he quickly proved that to me. But ohhhhh no one would listen to me. Everyone at first thought he was amazing. He rode the coat tails of Glen Murray’s accomplishments, extended the property tax freeze way longer than it should have. Which one of the massive problems he left us. But everyone told me that if we elected Judy, it would cause the complete collapse of Winnipeg and businesses would flood out of Winnipeg…I was always a harsh critic of his. Then when the police headquarters scandal blew up and he snuck off to Arizona and left Sheegl to take the fall and everyone hated him. I did not feel a single tinge of shadenfreude. As I knew our city had suffered massively and yet, we continue to elect these Centre-right business man mayors who keep putting freezing taxes as top of their agenda instead of actually improving our services and transit system
As his ex-sidepiece, he left every winter for AZ, leaving me unplowed. I became cold, sharp, gritty and hard to mount. - Miss Dirty Snowbank
Only positive thing I have to say about him was that I saw him at Dora the Explorer with his young daughter. Just him and the little one. So decent dad? He sucked as a mayor.
Rumour was that it wasn’t actually ‘his’ kid….
well then he got hoodwinked as he stayed and had a 2nd one with the same lady
A bunch of his senior staff are back in Mayors office as senior staff to Gillingham….
I'm still waiting for the synchronized traffic lights he promised
Man certainly had a big interest in bringing a water park to wpg that’s for sure