Personal Information:

JOHN NELSON, P.E., R.L.S., ACEC, Fellow

John Nelson was elected 4 times to represent City Council District 4, beginning in 1983. As a result of citywide redistricting in 1991, Mr. Nelson was then elected to represent District 5 twice and served as Mayor for a short time. In January 1999, John was elected as Vice Mayor for the third time during his tenure and was the senior member of the Council. He was president of Coe and Van Loo Consultants, Inc., an engineering firm, for eighteen years and a partner for seventeen years.

Nelson was chairman of the City Council Ethics & Public Safety Subcommittee for 9 years and also served on, or chaired: Transportation & Technology, Housing & Neighborhoods, Desert Preserves & Open Spaces, and Natural Resources.

His professional affiliations included the Arizona Consulting Engineers Association, American Water Works Association, and the Arizona Professional Land Surveyors Association. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Arizona and California, and is a Registered Land Surveyor in Arizona.

Mr. Nelson served our country in the 1st Battle Group, 26th Infantry, 1st Division of the U.S. Army. Prior to joining Coe and Van Loo as a Project Engineer in 1972, Nelson was employed with the City of Phoenix Engineering Department for seven years. He began his engineering career with Tyson Engineering Service in Kankakee, Illinois, in 1962.

In January 1997, Nelson was appointed to the Cartwright School Board. John presently serves as vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Maryvale Hospital Medical Center. He also serves on the State Board of Technical Registration Advisory Committee.

His past service has included chairman of the Maryvale Village Planning Committee and past president of the Maryvale Citizens' Association and vice-chairman of the Sanitary Sewer Subcommittee of the Phoenix Bond Advisory Committee. Additionally he has been a member of the Sanitary Landfill Site Selection Committee, the Mayor's Task Force on Juvenile Violence, the Board of Adjustment, and a Professional Engineers in Government Representative. His involvement with young people has included volunteering with Little League, Pop Warner Football and the Boy Scouts.

Past honors include Maryvale Man of the Year in 1978 and Engineer of the Year in 1990. In September 1996, he was presented the prestigious "Community Service Award" by the American Consulting Engineers Council and in October was presented with the "The 1996 Excellence Award for Community Involvement" by the Arizona Civil Engineers Association (ACEA). Later that same month he was honored by WESTMARC as one of the "Best of the West", individual category, for serving his community for the past 25 years. November 1998 John was awarded the title of Fellow of the American Consulting Engineers Council (ACEC), a prestigious nomination reserved for only 250 out of 6,000 engineers nationwide.

Mr. Nelson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the Indiana Institute of Technology and a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Arizona State University.

Mr. Nelson has served on the House Transportation Judiciary, Counties and Municipalities (vice chair) and presently serves on the Government and Retirement Committee, Transportation Committee, and Utilities and Municipalities Committee (Chair).

Nelson and Monica, his wife, have three children and six grandchildren.