Snellville Councilwoman Barbara Bender looks at life as a series of logical and rational steps.

“It’s all about prioritizing,” she said, when asked how she juggles her various roles as local politician, a certified public accountant, wife, and mother of two. “I’m not a master of everything. I just try and prioritize what’s important and look for a balance.”

Bender, 46, moved to Gwinnett County from Baltimore, Md., as a young child. She grew up in Norcross and Lilburn, where she attended Parkview High School. After marrying her husband Greg, a long-time Snellville resident, and earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Georgia State University, she too settled in Snellville. It’s been home since 1985.

“I’ve worked four and a half miles from home for years,” she said. “I love being close to my kids and close to the community.”

Her dream is to realize a thriving downtown for Snellville with office, residential, and retail space that creates jobs and enables others to enjoy the benefits of living, working, and playing closer to their homes.

Bender combines her day job as vice president of Hamilton Financial with local politics and positions on various local committees, including the Snellville Commerce Club. Serving her second term as Mayor Pro Tem (essentially vice mayor) of Snellville, she is part of the five-member city council under Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer.

By her own admission, the council was once the laughing stock of local politics. With a change of council in 2009, positive action replaced in-fighting, she said.

Redeveloping downtown Snellville and bringing the community together are now top priorities. Two key elements to this are the new Snellville Farmers’ Market and the Snellville Trade and Tourism Association. Both began in 2010.

“The Farmers’ Market started bringing back the community that had got lost along the way,” said Bender, who participated in the founding committee. “It was wonderful seeing people together in one place, shopping and taking pictures, going on the Facebook page, and talking about what they’d bought and what they’d made for dinner that night.”

Bender sees Snellville as “a little big town,” where it’s easy to make friends and be part of what’s going on.

“I love the city’s potential,” she said. “It’s a nice area. People still live here who have been here a long time. There are 19,000 residents currently, but it has a friendly small-town feel.”

With her son already attending college and her daughter likely to follow suit in the next year or two, Bender is beginning to think about her own future. The first female mayor of Snellville, perhaps? She’s undecided on that one.

“I’m still in search mode. I haven’t done everything I want to do yet, but the next mayor? I don’t know…”

[Originally published January 1, 2011, Snellville Patch]