By David F. Rooney
When Steve Bender moved here 24 years ago he was captivated by the possibility of skiing the winter away — when he wasn’t working Metropolitan Life Insurance, that is.
He eventually went on to manager EZ Rock when it was still known as The Big R. That dates him, doesn’t it?
Kid Steve about it and he’ll smile and laugh. He’s also known as a fellow possessed of an excellent sense of humour. Lately, though, he hasn’t had an awful lot to laugh about.
First off, he has been on Council for two terms and weathered some unpleasant moments; and, secondly he has lost his kidneys and, until he gets a kidney transplant, he undergoes dialysis at home four times a day.
Steve thinks the City is in better shape than most people realize and he thinks some of the men and women seeking to unseat him will be in for a big surprise or two if they win and he loses.
Running a municipal government is not like managing a business, he says, and there are so many sectors competing for funding, support and attention from City Council that it makes a mockery of anyone’s claims that they can run City Hall like a business/
You can hear everything Steve has to say in activating the YouTube player below:
