Mayor Ben Stahler

Email: bstahler@ci.bellefontaine.oh.us
Mayor Ben Stahler was born in Bellefontaine in 1959. He is the youngest of three children of Robert L. Stahler and Wanda L. (Marquis) Stahler. Their family roots stretch well before the 1840’s into Logan County. He is a graduate of Bellefontaine High School (1978) and received his degree in Pharmacy for Ohio Northern University in 1983. That same year he married his high school “sweet-heart”, Sara J. (Crawfis) Stahler, and they bought their first home in Bellefontaine. Today, they are the proud parents and grandparents. They have three adult children, two of whom are married and five grandchildren.  Their children are college graduates and presently all are working in Bellefontaine and Columbus, Ohio.  ​
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He began his pharmacy career at Mary Rutan Hospital in 1979 and continued there, as a pharmacist, until 2001.  In 2001, Ben took on the role of Community Pharmacist at CVS Pharmacy in Bellefontaine. In July of 2014, Mr. Stahler retired his full-time position, as a CVS Pharmacist, at the age of 54.
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Mr. Stahler was appointed to the office of Mayor of Bellefontaine in October 2014.  He came to this position with a variety of community experiences.  Some of those include being elected to Bellefontaine City Council (2 terms, 1990-1993), elected to Bellefontaine Board of Education (4 terms, 1996-2008), and appointed to the Ohio Hi-Point Board of Education (1996-2003) and Logan County Board of Elections (2007–2015).  Mr. Stahler is the chairman of the Logan County Mayor’s Association, since 2014, and currently Vice President of the Mayor’s Association of Ohio. Stahler is a volunteer docent at the Logan County Historical 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”. As mayor, he was elected to a four-year term in November of 2015 and November of 2019.

As Mayor, Ben has a great deal of community pride!  In 2022, Ohio Magazine recognized Bellefontaine as one of Ohio’s BEST HOMETOWNS.  In addition to working closely with City Council and various Department Heads throughout city government, he believes that it is his duty to provide vision for opportunities of community economic development.  The city of Bellefontaine, Logan County and Area Chamber of Commerce should work closely to promote a business-friendly environment in order to foster economic vitality.