[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 172 (Wednesday, December 12, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2256]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MAYOR NANCY HEIL

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                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 11, 2001

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
tireless worker and a devoted public servant. After eighteen years of 
public service, Nancy Heil, who began her service on the city council 
in 1983 and has served as Mayor of Westminster, Colorado, for six 
years, is retiring.
  Throughout her public career, Mayor Heil's priority has been 
preserving the quality of life for Westminster residents. During the 
forty years she has called Westminster her home, she has watched it 
grow from a small suburban town of 12,000 residents to a city of over 
100,000. Ensuring that people are still able to enjoy the lifestyle 
they came to Westminster for has always been of top importance to the 
Mayor. She has been a constant, positive force in the community, 
displaying an unmatched passion for the welfare of her citizens.
  Mayor Heil was a leader in focusing attention on the importance of 
removing the radioactive wastes from the U.S. Department of Energy's 
Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Facility--which is located just west of 
Westminster. She spoke out about the importance of finding secure 
locations to remove the dangerously contaminated material from such a 
well-populated urban area and thereby safeguard the millions of people 
in the Denver-metro area.
  She was also one of the leaders and original proponents of preserving 
the open space resources at Rocky Flats and in calling for the site to 
be transformed into a National Wildlife Refuge once it is cleaned up 
and closed. In such a fast growing area of the Denver metropolitan 
region, Mayor Heil saw an opportunity to keep much of this area as a 
natural asset for future generations.
  Through her ability to forge coalitions and collaborate with 
neighboring communities, Mayor Heil was able to bring out the best in 
other leaders and ensure that it was always the citizens that 
benefited. I am proud to have had the opportunity to work with a 
community leader of her quality. She put the people first and I 
consider it an honor to represent her and her community in Congress. 
She is an example of what we all should look for in our leaders: 
commitment, selflessness, and passion. It is with great pleasure that I 
take this opportunity to recognize her and thank her for her years of 
dedicated service. The city of Westminster and indeed the state of 
Colorado have greatly benefited from her contributions and leadership. 
Her talents and resourcefulness will be sorely missed.
  Her accomplishments and the esteem in which she is held were recently 
reported in the Denver Post. For the information of our colleagues, I 
am attaching a copy of that report.

               [From the Denver Post, December 11, 2001]

                    Heil Leaves Office on High Note

                            (By George Lane)

       Westminster--When Nancy Heil first took her seat on the 
     City Council in 1983, she might have been one of the most 
     naive politicians around.
       Consider that she wondered if ``Dr. Cog'' might be a family 
     physician. DRCOG is the acronym for the Denver Regional 
     Council of Governments.
       Since then, Heil's growth and political maturity have 
     resulted in her twice being named Westminster Woman of the 
     Year and becoming the city's first elected mayor.
       Now, after almost two decades of service, in the middle of 
     the term to which she was elected in 1999, Heil is resigning 
     from office Dec. 31. She says it's time for something new.
       ``These are extraordinary times, and they have caused me to 
     re-think the importance of the office of mayor,'' she said 
     during a recent interview. ``I have willingly given 18 years 
     of my life to work for the city I love. I have given it my 
     best, and now I believe it is time for me to take a new 
     direction.''
       Councilman Ed Moss, recently elected major pro tem, will 
     complete Heil's unexpired term, as dictated by the city 
     charter.
       Government observers here say following Heil won't be easy.
       ``Nancy, she's a class act,'' said Adams County 
     Commissioner Elaine Velente. ``Her shoes are going to be 
     tough to fill. I think she's done a tremendous job 
     representing the city of Westminster.''
       Heil was a teacher in upstate New York before she met her 
     husband, Jay, and moved to Colorado. Jay Heil is a Colorado 
     native who went back East for dental school. The couple now 
     have four adult children.
       The mayor said that Westminster was a town of about 15,000 
     people when she moved here about 40 years ago, and there was 
     almost no place to live. She now points proudly at a city of 
     more than 100,000, the Westin Hotel that opened several years 
     ago and Westminster Mall, where sales tax has been 
     Westminster's major source of revenue for a number of years.
       The mayor said she has resolved some health problems over 
     the past few years. During the past year, she also has faced 
     a sometimes-divided City Council over whether one of their 
     own should be removed because of expense-account 
     irregularities.
       ``She had a good vision for the city, wanted the city of 
     improve its image and it did, wanted the city to be known as 
     a good place to live and I think she achieved that,'' said Vi 
     June, mayor from 1985 to 1991.

     

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