2007 - 2019
Born: Omaha, NE
Nov. 14, 1944
Party Affiliation: Democrat
2003 - 2007
Born: Council Bluffs, IA
Feb. 8, 1936
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Coleen Seng was elected the City of Lincoln’s 50th Mayor on May 6, 2003 and was sworn in May 19. The Mayor serves a four-year term.
From 1987 to 2003, Coleen served on the Lincoln City Council representing the northeast district. During those 16 years, she helped to improve communication between the City and businesses in her district by forming the Northeast Lincoln Large Employer Group. She maintained contact with citizens in her district through her monthly citizens’ meetings.
As a member of the City Council, Coleen represented the City on many boards, commissions and task forces. She was a member of the Mayor’s first Multi-Cultural Task Force, Co-Chair of Governor Ben Nelson’s Urban Advisory Team, Chair of Railroad Transportation Safety District, and Chair of the Joint Budget Committee.
As a City Council member, Coleen was recognized in the annual KFOR Radio survey as one of the best City Council members. She also received the Tribute to Women Award from the YWCA; the Citizen of the Year Award from the Northeast Lincoln Kiwanis Club; the Woman of the Year Award from the Axis Business and Professional Women’s Club, Inc.; the Outstanding Citizen Award from the Lincoln Northeast Rotary Club; and the Mayor’s Neighborhood Roundtable Founder’s Award.
Coleen was born February 8, 1936 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She grew up in Fremont, Nebraska, where her parents owned a welding, machine shop and repair business. Coleen thgraduated from high school in 1954 and went on to Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln in the fall of that same year. At Wesleyan, she was 1st Student Head Resident and graduated in 1958 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science and sociology.
From 1958 to 1960 Coleen worked for the Girl Scouts in Saginaw, Michigan. She continued her work for the Girl Scouts in Lincoln in 1961 and 1962. From 1977 through 1997, Coleen was the Director of Community Ministries at First United Methodist Church in Lincoln. She continues to serve on the Church’s Social Concerns and Outreach Commission
Coleen has lived, worked, and raised a family in Lincoln for more than 40 years. During this time, the focus of her involvement and leadership has been to make sure individuals have a voice in decisions affecting their own lives. She remains active in the University Place Community Organization, which founded the Northeast Family Resource Center. She is Past Chair of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Family Resource Center Board and continues her service to families. She is Past President of the Lincoln Fellowship of Churches and a delegate member from her home church, First United Methodist. Coleen began her involvement with the Girl Scouts as a Brownie in 1942. She is a Past President of the Homestead Girl Scout Council and continues to be involved in Girl Scout fund-raising activities.
Coleen is a member of the YWCA, the Friends of the Women’s Commission, the Friends of the University of Nebraska State Museum, the Newcomen Society, a local P.E.O. chapter, the East Lincoln Rotary Club and Common Cause. She is a past board member of the University Place Art Center and Neighborhoods, Inc. She also has been involved in parent groups at Brownell Elementary, Mickle Junior High/Middle School and Lincoln Northeast High.
Coleen and her late husband Darrel, who died in 1993, have three grown children and four grandchildren.
---Coleen J. Seng
1999-2003
Wesely, Don
Born: David City, NE
Mar. 30, 1954
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Don Wesely was elected the City of Lincoln's 49th Mayor on May 4, 1999 and was sworn into office May 17. In a record voter turnout for the non-partisan election, Wesely received 56 percent of the vote. The Mayor serves a four-year term.
Mayor Wesely is dedicated to improving Lincoln's quality of life. His major priorities include strengthening downtown and the city's established neighborhoods, encouraging and guiding the tremendous growth in business and residential development and putting in place a long-range plan to ensure Lincoln's prosperity for the future.
Wesely has assumed the leadership in moving forward with the largest infrastructure project in the city's history -- the Antelope Valley Project, which will provide flood control, traffic improvements and neighborhood revitalization in the core of the city. The Mayor took the lead in forging a historic public-private partnership among NEBCO Inc., the University of Nebraska and the city that will result in new ballparks for the University baseball and softball teams and a new Northern League professional baseball team for Lincoln. The Mayor has also led the transition of ambulance service to the Fire Department.
Wesely was born March 30, 1954 in David City, Nebraska. He attended the Lincoln public schools, graduating from Lincoln Northeast High School. He received his B.A. Degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1977 and attended graduate school at UNL.
Mayor Wesely has three children -- Sarah, Amanda and Andrew.
Wesely was first elected to the Nebraska Legislature in 1978, becoming the third youngest person ever to serve in the Unicameral Legislature. He served the 26th Legislative District of Northeast Lincoln for 20 years during which time more than 300 legislative initiatives he sponsored or co-sponsored were successfully enacted into state law. His committee work included 14 years as Chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee. When he retired from the Legislature in 1998, Wesely was the eighth longest serving State Senator in Nebraska history.
Wesely was employed as a Senior Research Associate for Aliant Communication (formerly Lincoln Telephone Company, now Alltel) from 1985 to 1998.
---Don Wesely