Mayor Pro Tem JOHN NIELSEN currently serves as a District 17 Board Member for the Southern California Association of Governments representing the cities of Tustin, Orange and Villa Park. He also serves as a Board Member on the Orange County Council of Governments. He is a member of the Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee and also serves on the Santa Ana River Flood Protection Agency and Water Advisory Committee of Orange County. In addition, Mayor Pro Tem Nielsen serves as Liaison to the Tustin Unified School District and as an alternate to the Orange County Sanitation District Board.

Prior to his election in November 2008, Mayor Pro Tem Nielsen served 6 years as a member of the City of Tustin Planning Commission, 3 years as its Chairman. He also served as a member of the OCTA Citizens Advisory Committee, the Tustin Police Chief’s Advisory Board, and was a member of the Business and Economic Development Council for the Tustin Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the Totally Tustin Committee.

Since moving to Tustin in 1986, Mayor Pro Tem Nielsen has been involved with numerous civic organizations including the Tustin Public Schools Foundation, Tustin Eastern Little League, AYSO, National Jr. Basketball (NJB), Tustin Aquatics and Tustin High School Model United Nations.

He currently serves as the Boy Scouts of America Canyons District Commissioner serving Tustin, North Tustin, Orange, Villa Park and Anaheim Hills as well as acting as an Assistant Scout Master for Boy Scout Troop 243 in North Tustin. He also is a member of the National Eagle Scout Association. Mayor Pro Tem Nielsen earned a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University Fullerton and is employed as an Area Manager for the Corporate Finance Group of a Fortune 500 company.

He and his wife, Erin, have 2 children, Kierstie (20) and Dane (17) and 2 golden retrievers.