With the Urbana mayoral primary election coming up on Feb. 25, Democratic candidate DeShawn Williams reflected on his two years of running and his vision for the city if elected mayor.
Williams decided to run for mayor of Urbana after progressing from his career as a bank teller to chief deputy treasurer in Champaign County.
“I still believe in the purity of public service,” Williams said. “A lot of the work and things that we’re doing now is simply a continuation of the work that we’ve been doing over the years. For me, I’ve seen that there was a void in that space, and I felt as though this was an opportunity for us to continue to do the work, to continue to build the community up.”
After discovering the passion for public service in early life, Williams recognizes he had a talent for speaking with people in finance. After becoming a bank teller in 2006, he received multiple promotions, eventually becoming the youngest and only Black vice president at U.S. Bank.
“Here we are now; I’m one of the overseers of over one hundred forty million dollars of our taxpayer money,” Williams said.
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This financial perspective has significantly shaped Williams’ campaign, but his experience as chief deputy treasurer has also influenced the current Champaign County. Through this position, Williams has contributed to financing many businesses around Urbana.
“What a lot of folks didn’t realize is that from my time in the bank, I actually helped finance a good portion of some of our most favorite restaurants and companies in the city because one of our branches was in Urbana,” Williams said. “So I met a lot of bright-eyed entrepreneurs. We were able to work together and essentially develop, from start to finish, an actual business.”
Not only is Williams involved in the greater Urbana community, but he also maintains that the University students remain a significant part of his campaign.
“As far as the campaign and all of them before, I’ve been locked in arms with the campus students,” Williams said. “I don’t see that stopping any time soon, especially when we get into office.”
The University students may have seen Williams through the Illini Democrats, where he’s spoken multiple times, attended canvassing events and volunteered to register students to vote.
Despite being an Indiana native, Urbana has held a special place in Williams’ heart since 2011 where he met his wife. After a brief move to Champaign, they decided that Urbana was the right place for them.
“It was just one of those things where, you know, it’s home,” Williams said. “We appreciated the culture around the city, the outreach, the love, the passion. This has always been a place of value, love, excitement. We wanted to ensure that we allowed our kids to experience the things that we’d been experiencing.”
Williams is also an active participant in Urbana’s arts scene, from singing at the Rose Bowl Tavern to his time on the Illini Media Company board.
Youth development is at the forefront of his campaign. Through the Urbana Parents Advocating Community Concern, Williams developed the KidzBiz, a program for Urbana youth to learn financial literacy.
“The conversation came out, essentially saying that our youth — they don’t have anything to keep them active,” Williams said. “The KidzBiz was created so that we could get our kids to start to think of themselves as entrepreneurs.”
Williams holds pop-up events in downtown Urbana to teach kids to sell their own products, services and ideas.
“If we’re being honest, the majority of crime and things of that nature have been at the hands of our youth,” Williams said. “So that is where I am focusing a lot of attention. I think once we address that, then that’s going to spill out to a reduction in crime, help us with our police department and things of that nature. It’s gonna then help us with our economic development. It all goes hand-in-hand; we just sometimes overcomplicate it.”
Urbana community members can view Williams’ platform, positions and endorsements on his website, where they can also contact his campaign team with questions or concerns. He can also be found on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
The election will take place on Feb. 25, with early voting now open. Williams will face candidate Annie Adams for mayor of Urbana.
“If you wanna be great at something, you have to actively engage in what it takes to be great so I’m looking forward to getting out and engaging,” Williams said. “We’re gonna bring a lot of excitement, a lot of energy; it’s gonna be a beautiful thing.”
