STEVE KIRK: His kind of town

Three-term councilman discusses his passion for family, local politics and all things Henderson

MARLENE KARAS/VIEWCoach Steve Kirk huddles with the members of his son?s basketball team during a game Feb. 23 at Whitney Ranch Recreation Center. Kirk said he loves sports and wanted to be a professional baseball player when he was a kid. MARLENE KARAS/VIEWSteve Kirk coaches his son?s basketball team Feb. 23 at the Whitney Ranch Recreation Center. Many residents will recognize Kirk as a member of the City Council, but the Henderson native and father of five also enjoys traveling, playing the guitar and golf. Advertisement

Steve Kirk loves Hawaii. He raves about the nation's capital and spent his honeymoon in Lake Tahoe.

But getting that out of him was tough.

"The best part is coming home," said the reluctant traveler, who should have been wearing an I "heart" Henderson T-shirt as we sat on a bench at the Whitney Recreation Center.

I followed Kirk to his son's basketball game to see what the councilman was like away from the stage of City Hall. As we spoke before he coached the kids, we were interrupted a few times by parents who stopped by to say hello and someone who handed him a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

Once the action started, Kirk paced the court, clapping and calling out encouragement to his players. It was only when he turned toward the wall and cringed that I noticed his competitiveness.

After the team won in overtime, Kirk and I sat on a bench outside the gym. The councilman leaned back while crossing his legs and summed himself up. "I'm a middle-aged father of five who drives a Suburban."

It was obvious Kirk considers himself a family man first.

He easily remembered details of meeting Amy, his wife. The blind date took place on Feb. 29, 1980, and involved a John Ritter movie and dinner at the Peppermill Restaurant on Las Vegas Boulevard.

Kirk already had served a mission in Hawaii with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was attending Brigham Young University when the Henderson natives got married and started their family with a daughter, followed by another and another and another. After four girls, the Kirks had a son eight years ago.

"We just kept having girls and girls, and we thought, 'What's going on here?' " he told me.

The 49-year-old grandfather freely shared his age as he pointed out that he still has all his hair. "And it's not gray," he laughed while running his fingers through the brown tuft.

Kirk spoke about getting into politics as a series of affectionate pushes.

In 1993, a friend asked him to serve on a Henderson Parks and Recreation Department board. He volunteered and was elected chairman before he began speaking at public meetings and events trying to get votes for a park bond that would be on an upcoming election ballot.

"I started hanging around, watching speeches, and once I was sitting next to Mike Harris, a former council member. He said, 'You ought to run.' "

Two years later, in 1999, he did. Kirk won and was re-elected for his third term in 2007.

He didn't always know that he wanted to be involved in government.

"I've learned since being elected you have to have passion for it, and I do," he said.

He's not ruling out going big time, but said, "I really like local politics. I think we have a big impact on the lives of people."

Kirk's son ran up to his dad, breaking into our conversation. He had missed the season's final game to go to a birthday party and was excited to collect his trophy.

"You can see where his priorities are," Kirk said with a loving roll of his eyes.

After showing him the additional sportsmanship award the team had won, he asked the 8-year-old to give us a few more minutes.

The councilman was relaxed as we talked, and he told me he was born just over the border in Boulder City, even though his family was living in Henderson. "That's where the doctor was. I think he delivered all the babies then."

Kirk's childhood centered around downtown Henderson. He graduated from the original Basic High School when the building sat where City Hall is today and spent summers washing dishes at the Eldorado Casino. Those were the years when Kirk knew he was going to be a professional baseball player. His mother still has a newspaper article from when he was 12 that quotes him as saying that he would be on a major league team one day.

Although his life took a different turn, Kirk said he still loves sports and plays golf now.

After city duties, his day job as director of acquisitions for RMI Investment Services, and his family, Kirk said there isn't much free time. But he did get excited when he spoke about playing the guitar. He picked it up about 10 years ago and has played hesitantly in public at Saxby's Coffee a few times.

By the time I put my notebook down, Kirk was asking me questions about growing up in Henderson and seemed genuinely interested. After he told me to e-mail him if I ever had any questions, I walked to my car confident that he'd answer me if I did.