Bellefontaine Mayor Ben Stahler has announced his bid for re-election in the May 2 primary election.
Born and raised in Bellefontaine, he is a graduate of Bellefontaine High School and went on to earn a degree in pharmacy from Ohio Northern University. He worked as a pharmacist at Mary Rutan Hospital and CVS Pharmacy for a combined 35 years.
He is married to Sara J. (Crawfis) Stahler and they’ll celebrate 40 years of marriage this summer. They have three adult children and five grandchildren; all of whom attend Bellefontaine City Schools.
Stahler was appointed to the office of mayor in October 2014. He subsequently was elected to a four-year term in November of 2015 and November of 2019.
Previously, he served two terms on Bellefontaine City Council, from 1990-1993; was elected to Bellefontaine Board of Education (four terms, 1996-2008); and was appointed to the Ohio Hi-Point Board of Education (1996-2003) and Logan County Board of Elections (2007–2015).
Stahler serves as chairman of the Logan County Mayor’s Association (since 2014) and is currently president-elect of the Mayor’s Association of Ohio. Also a volunteer docent at the Logan County History Center, he presently serves as a member of the Governor DeWine’s Task Force on Volunteer Fire Service.
He is a member and elder at the First United Presbyterian Church of Bellefontaine and a member of the local Rotary Club (39+ years). In 2013, Stahler was honored with the Elks Lodge “Citizen of the Year.”