After more than three decades of public service, Mayor Nancy McNally is preparing to close the final chapter of her remarkable story leading Westminster. Her final day on the dais is December 1, 2025, as she ends her last term. However, her legacy in our community is anything but finished. It lives on in the parks, policies, and people she’s influenced along the way.
Mayor McNally and her husband Larry have called Westminster home for decades, raising three children and a parade of pugs and bulldogs in the same home for the past 45 years.
McNally’s creativity and compassion have always extended beyond her front door. She runs multiple small businesses, including a commercial peanut brittle operation so successful she had to renovate her kitchen to keep up with demand.
Alongside building and sustaining multiple home businesses, Mayor McNally built a strong foundation of public service. She served on Jefferson County’s school board from 1989 to 1997, including two years as board chair. She was first elected to Westminster City Council in 2001, became mayor pro tem in 2003, and was elected mayor in 2004. She served on City Council until 2013, then returned to the mayor’s office in 2021 for her current term.
Former Mayor Ed Moss (2002-2004), who served alongside her, recalled her deep understanding of intergovernmental cooperation and finance shining through when she was first elected.
From championing open space and trail systems to supporting major infrastructure projects like the new drinking water facility and municipal courthouse that broke ground this year, Mayor McNally has always taken the long view when it comes to building a better Westminster.
“You have to look at where the city’s going and what is it that you want it to be,” Moss said. “She came with a lot of background about government… and she still uses it. Downtown Westminster should have her name on a plaque somewhere.”
McNally’s return to office in 2021 brought renewed energy and institutional knowledge to a city facing complex challenges.
She played a key role in guiding the City through economic recovery. Former Councillor Rich Seymour, who served from 2019 to 2023, credited McNally’s experience during the 2009 recession with helping the City maintain strong reserves during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were able to keep our city moving forward when other cities were cutting back,” he said.
A key part of Mayor McNally’s leadership style is including multiple, sometimes dissenting, voices at the table. While it may have been more onerous at the time, McNally firmly believed in the value of taking the time to hear everyone out.
“Everybody gets a voice, and we will take the amount of time necessary to make sure that everybody gets heard,” Seymour said. “She really was going to wait until everyone had an opinion… and that always gives better results in the long run.”
That inclusive leadership style was especially evident in her work with Westminster’s Youth Advisory Panel, whom she affectionately referred to as the “YAP-pers.” McNally championed the teens’ involvement in civic life and made sure their voices were heard at the highest levels of their city’s government.
McNally’s passion for Westminster’s past is just as strong as her vision for its future. As a board member of the Westminster Historical Society (WHS), she helped secure a formal partnership between the society and the City.
“She brings the knowledge of how we can work together with the City,” said WHS board member Kathy Pascoe. “She’s a big advocate for us working with other people… and she shares her knowledge freely. She’s really more like a friend than just a mayor.”
“She’s really more like a friend than just a mayor.”
Kathy Pascoe, Westminster Historical Society Board Member
Throughout her final term, McNally has faced a personal battle with cancer. Rather than keep her diagnosis private, she chose to share health updates openly with her colleagues during pre-council meetings. On good days and bad, she continued to show up, attending nearly every City event, ribbon cutting, and engagement opportunity. Her presence never wavered, even when her energy did.
Her selflessness even during hard times was exemplified in the form of her legendary homemade cinnamon rolls, which she would bake from scratch — often waking up before 4 am to have them warm and ready as employees walked into City Hall.
“She’s a good friend that’s just there for people. She has a big heart for this community,” said City Councillor David DeMott. “Our organization treats people with heart and empathy. That’s because of leaders like Nancy McNally.”
And now as she prepares to step away from the dais, the Westminster community shares a message of gratitude to a Mayor who gave us her all — and then some.