Reports the Inquirer's Marcia Gelbart:
The email arrived at 11:38 this morning - about 12 hours after Democratic voters chose Michael Nutter as their nominee for mayor.
"Not that this will come as a surprise to anyone," wrote Sam Katz to a reporter, "but I will not be a candidate for mayor in the general election."
Katz, a three-time candidate for mayor, raised that prospect late last month when he quietly changed his registration from Republican to "non-affiliated," a move that set him up to run as an independent on the November ballot.
But after Nutter's win, Katz says he's out.
"I just think the guy did a virtually unbelievable job on every front," said Katz, who stopped by Nutter's victory party last night at the Radisson Plaza - Warwick Hotel. His son, a Nutter campaign volunteer, had invited him.
"It was the first time I'd been in a room with a lot of Democrats in a long time," quipped Katz, a Democrat until he became a Republican in 1990.
Comments (3)
How long is the private business lawsuit going to dog Katz(no pun intinded) its a shame because he is a bright guy that Nutter could use.
Also, is anybody talking about the impact of the film "The Shame Of A City" had on the outcome? I know it caused me to become active and vote for Nutter and I know that other people were moved by it as well. Nutter's screenings of the film caused people to get active and work to change what was going on in this city.
I still cant believe he won. Finally Philadelphia has chosen the right guy.
Congrats Philly
Posted by citizenthomas![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://blogs.phillynews.com/dailynews/nextmayor/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 16, 2007 3:00 PM
I wouldn't be surprised if Nutter has a place in his administration for Katz. Actually, it will be interesting to see what a Nutter administration looks like. I'm hoping and I expect it to look much more professional than the Street administration. I think we're likely to see some sharp people get engaged in the management of city services. Any other nominations?
Posted by Anonymous | May 16, 2007 3:17 PM
Dunno about Katz. I don't necessarily think that hiring him would be an ethics no-no, but then I don't know all the details about the ruling against him.
As far as who we might see in a Nutter administration, Mark Allan Hughes quit his job as columnist to work on his campaign, so it wouldn't surprise me to see him in the mix somewhere. Lawrence Sherman might also end up involved in some capacity, influencing public safety policy. I've also heard some names dropped as far as who's advising him on the pension issue (don't remember the name(s) at the moment, but they're supposed to be nationally known authorities on the subject) and they might end up in the mix, possibly instead of or in addition to Katz.
I'm pretty optimistic, but we'll see how things shake out.
Posted by Dave![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://blogs.phillynews.com/dailynews/nextmayor/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 16, 2007 3:28 PM