Last November, the City of Northwood welcomed Douglas Moehle back for his fifth year as
mayor.
Moehle is most looking forward to continuing to help Northwood sustain itself.
“My fear is small-town Iowa is disintegrating, so I’m hoping to help Northwood survive,” said
Moehle. “I’m hoping it becomes a nice enough place where people will want to come here and
live and work and raise their children.”
Northwood is also working on upgrading and stabilizing its streets, a process that will consume
five or six years. The city previously paved roads with tar and rock but has recently converted to
layering the streets with asphalt, according to Moehle. He believes this method will last longer.
Moehle strives also to build a better relationship between the city, county and
Northwood-Kensett High School, believing the more they communicate, the better they can
assist each other. Northwood-Kensett High School is building an activity center, and Moehle
hopes the community can also use the center.
Building and repairing relationships is why Moehle decided to run for office the first time. He
was unhappy with the relationship between the city and its employees and sought to repair it by
joining the election.
Through time, Moehle feels he and the city council has solved the problem through increased
communication regarding both parties’ goals and needs.
“Right now, the retention of employees everywhere is so critical, so I felt that we needed to
foster a relationship that would try and keep those employees in Northwood,” Moehle said.
The biggest challenge Moehle has faced was replacing two city employees—one who retired and
one who left to work for the City of Clear Lake. According to Moehle, it was difficult to find
applicants who would choose Northwood to work in long-term.
Moehle expressed that a greater turnover rate could occur when several employees retire in the
next few years.
In the meantime, Moehle expresses his appreciation for the city employees and its council,
reminding residents that it takes more than just the mayor to accomplish tasks.
“I treat it as a job, and I think that’s what it needs to be,” said Moehle.
