meet mayor bill bean

Mayor Bill and Wife Audra Bean

Robert William (Bill) Bean, proudly serving as Mayor of the City of Urbana since 2012, was born and raised in Urbana, Ohio.  He attended South Elementary Grade School, graduated Urbana High and graduated from Urbana University with a Bachelor’s Degree of Science, majoring in philosophy and religion. 
 
His family came to Ohio in 1806 with three great grandfathers and numerous uncles that fought in the Civil War. His roots in Champaign County extend to his grandfather, Noble Bean, who was President of People’s Savings and Loan and Past President of the Champaign County Republican’s Club. His father, Robert (Bob) Bean and mother, Marjorie Bean were very civic minded, as well, serving on numerous boards and committees.  

Bill is married to Audra Bean of Urbana. Bill’s daughter, Teresa Matteson, her husband Casey and two children: daughter, Lilly and son, Landon reside in Montgomery County.  
 
Bill served as a trustee of Urbana University for 20 years and served as the President of the Urbana University Alumni Association; is a member and upcoming President of the Urbana Lion’s Club; member of Simon Kenton Pathfinders; member of the American Philatelic Society; and a long-standing member of the National Stamp Dealer’s Association. Bill also serves on the board of the Emergency Management Agency (EMA) for Champaign County. He is proud to be one of the founding members of the Champaign Economic Partnership (CEP/CIC). The CEP provides economic development for all of Champaign County, including Urbana. Bill also is a member of the Ohio Municipal League (OML) and serves on the Executive Board of the Ohio Mayors Association. Bill was recently appointed to the Chairmanship of the Champaign District Health Board. He is once again serving as Chairman of the 13th annual Urbana Chili Cook-off Committee and is a co-founder of that event.  
 
Bill’s interests are history, genealogy, stamp collecting, bicycling, flags of the Revolutionary War and is an avid Reds fan.  Bill has done extensive research on Champaign County African Americans who fought in the Civil War and frequently has given talks on the CCAA experiences. 
 
Bill was appointed to the Urbana City Planning Commission by Mayor Tom Crowley in 2003; appointed to fill a vacancy on city council in January of 2008; elected to the Urbana City Council in 2009; and sworn in as Mayor of Urbana in 2012.

Mayor with Fire Chief Ortlieb and City Administrator Kerry Brugger

Proven History as mayor of the city of urbana

His accomplishments have been many in the short 7.5 years he has been Mayor of Urbana, Ohio.
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​Under his administration they have:

• ​Started construction and finished the upgrade of the Urbana Water Reclamation Facility, a $22 Million project. 
• Started construction and finished the redevelopment of RT US 36 East. 
• Started construction and finished Phase 1 of water line replacement of E. Court St., E. Church St., E. Ward St., Amherst and Wooddale Dr. 
• Completed curb and gutter on W. Ward and will complete curb and gutter on N. Oakland St. 
• Started construction of the taxy way C for the construction of a new T Hanger at the Urbana Municipal Airport (Grimes Field).  
• Took position of the Q3/JMC brown field property on Miami Street and have moved forward with Honeywell International and True Inspections Services (TIS) for the clean-up and redevelopment of that property. 
• Working with Urbana Hotel LLC for their development of the new Cobblestone Hotel located at the corner of US RT 68 and ST RT 55. This is a $7 Million project that will bring 10-15 jobs to the area.  
• Worked with Navistar/Damewood on the construction of their 355,000 sq. ft. facility. This is a $12 Million project that will bring 40 new jobs and retain an additional 114 jobs. 
• Worked with Memorial Health to bring an Urgent Care Facility, Occupational Care and additional physicians to Urbana. The project cost was around $10 Million and employed 12 new and retained 16 jobs.  
• We are proud to be working with the Champaign Air Museum to enlarge the Museum footprint with anticipation of the completion of the B-17 “Champaign Lady”. 
• Starting the redevelopment of Monument Square/Roundabout with completion in October of 2019. 

what being the mayor of the city of urbana means to bill bean 

Mayor Bill with Urbana Lions President Zac Fiely and Speakers Marcia Bailey, CEP Director; Lois Monroe, Chairman of Summerfest 19’

"​I ran for Mayor because I thought that the city was stagnant and just treading water. It needed a person that had a vision to bring Urbana forward into the 21 century. I don’t consider myself a visionary, but I had ideas that I thought would work in making Urbana one of the best small cities to live. We have everything going for us except our old tired infrastructure. We needed to breathe life into our infrastructure. So we embarked on making everything better and sustainable. We also needed to change attitudes about Urbana. Just look around the city and see all of the good things that are happening. Property owners are doing great things with their buildings.  You will always have your naysayers, but they are well in the minority." 
​-Mayor Bill Bean

Mayor bill bean still has more he wants to accomplish as mayor of the city of urbana

• The redevelopment of South & North Elementary and the Douglas Hotel for senior housing. 

 

• The redevelopment of South High St. and W. Light St. with new street, curb, gutter, sidewalk and storm sewer.  

 

• The continued support for the downtown property owners in bringing loft housing to our downtown.  

 

• Working to bring single family housing to the city.  

Mayor with Christopher Washington, Provost VP of Urbana University Franklin University Campus - Dedication of Armed Forces Flags at Urbana University

​Mayor Bill Bean would love to hear from you! ​submit your questions or comments below

Mayor Bill speaks at the dedication of the Lester Baum Wrestling facility at Urbana University

keep up with Mayor Bill bean on facebook

Bill Bean for Mayor