At some point, Mayor Rob Ford’s mayoralty will collapse under the weight of his own political folly.

Not today — despite reports the mayor uses his city-paid staff, cars and cellphones to administer elements of the youth football teams he coaches.

Not tomorrow — even as more and more allies back away from what has become a radioactive mayoralty.

Worse, Ford left an executive committee meeting five hours early this week to coach one of his football teams. The mayor chairs the monthly meetings of the committee, essentially his cabinet.

How many times have we forgiven this man some indiscretion and faux pas and gaffe and significant failing? How many more times before the citizenry run away from him, hands over their ears and eyes, screaming, “Enoooouuughhhhhhh!”

We are not there yet.

Online and on talk radio, the mayor still enjoys a measure of support from the diehards. His heart is in the right place, they say. He is a lovable bear of a man. He is helping underprivileged kids. The mayor should be praised for volunteering. Charges of conflict of interest and misuse of taxpayers’ money are petty.

Hmmmm. Didn’t Ford rise to fame by attacking city councillors for their “misuse” of taxpayers’ money? Wasn’t that the foundation of his run for mayor, why people fell in love with him?

Ford attacked councillors who used their office budget to buy cellphones. He railed against one councillor for buying an espresso machine to supply beverages for constituents who visited city hall.

When a councillor rented a bunny costume for the local Easter parade in her ward, he led the protest against her.

Donate $250 from the office budget toward a local baseball team for kids in the ward, and Rob Ford would slag the councillor for waste. In fact, he lumped all those expenditures as the “gravy” he would scoop out of city hall.

Now, it seems, the mayor refuses to see distinct and unmistakable evidence of conflict and inappropriate spending in his own office.

The reason he was in court last week was because he refused to heed concerns about his clear conflict of interest with his football foundation. Ford used city letterhead to solicit money from lobbyists for the foundation. He didn’t stop when the integrity commissioner asked him to. He refused to return the $3,150 he collected. And he voted on the matter when it came to council with a recommendation he pay up — clearly a conflict of interest.

As a result, a judge is now deliberating his fate, with a ruling that could come within the month, and possibly turf him from office.

Before the judge, the burly, blustery, unapologetic, stubborn and intractable politician appeared contrite and somewhat remorseful. He even said, under oath, his football passion is no longer aided by city staff and resources.

Wrong.

Anyone who has dispassionately examined the mayor knows this: He doesn’t care what anybody thinks. He has a nose for trouble. He thumbs his nose at the world. And he is still that rich kid from north Etobicoke who gets away with bullying those around him, because he can.

Drunk at a hockey game, he abused fans, lied about it, and then sheepishly apologized when found out.

He was busted for possession and caught drinking while driving in Florida. He lied about it when the Toronto Sun confronted him. But the voters forgave him and made him mayor.

As mayor, he is caught driving and using his phone, but is not sorry at all, ignoring the danger.

He is caught reading city documents while driving — and rebuffs every effort from staff and the police to get him a chauffeur. Now this.

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In essence, someone has to save the mayor from himself. He cannot be rehabilitated. He doesn’t “get it” when it comes to appropriate behaviour of a public official. He is surrounded by too many people who embolden him and too few who can knock sense into his ample skull.

But there is a tipping point, a straw that will send the embarrassing bundle that’s Rob Ford tumbling into obscurity. You can bet on Rob Ford being Rob Ford — which means he won’t see it coming.

Royson James usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email: rjames@thestar.ca