URBANA — Urbana Mayor DeShawn Williams completed one year in office on May 3, 2026. He ran on goals of building trust in the community and advocating for changes that residents actually want to see.
Williams said he has enjoyed his first year as mayor, but he knew it wouldn’t be perfect.
“Time has definitely gone by fast,” Williams said, “… you know, it’s something that I think I knew, but I got a real understanding of the saying that ‘You won’t please everyone.’”
One issue Williams said he was adamant about addressing was Urbana’s police department, which had been understaffed and underfunded.
“I said that we would ensure that they were fully staffed and that they had all of the resources they needed to effectively do their jobs,” Williams said.
Williams said he has met several goals with the Urbana Police Department when it comes to staffing and community engagement, and that efforts to build trust with the community are ongoing.
Willams said community engagement efforts have included events and also the launch of the Alternative Response Task Force, which aims to identify alternatives to police-led mental health crisis response.
“I think that we’ve done a solid job in bridging the gap between our police department and our community. That takes time to build that trust,” he said.
Williams said he also is continuing work on improving the Philo Road Ahead Initiative, which aims to improve the Philo Road Business District in East Urbana.
The stretch of Philo Road that used to be home to businesses like Family Video, Walgreens and County Market is “no longer the business district it was,” according to Williams.
But he said he’s excited about the future of the area though, and he hopes to share some announcements regarding projects in the next few months.
“We have some exciting news around some of the apartment complexes and whatnot. We finally got a good grasp on how we can move forward from a legal standpoint in the redevelopment of some of those spaces,” he said.
He said the city’s forthcoming community engagement center will be “housed off of Philo Road, right in the Sunnycrest Mall area, which we’re kind of in the final stages of. I am yearning for the day that I’ll be able to finally announce the things that are taking place. But… there’s a few other layers that I have to be mindful of before we communicate that.”
Looking ahead, Williams said he wants to continue to deliver on his promises, citing his love for the city and its people.
“I just want to stay consistent in ensuring that, again, that my heart remains pure,” he said. “I still believe in the purity of public service.”