Fort Madison's New Mayor Found Her Voice

FORT MADISON - She sat in her elementary classroom, avoiding eye contact with her teacher, holding her breath, trying to avoid being called on to answer a question due to her extreme shyness... Decades later, and just over a month ago, she ran for mayor of Fort Madison and won.
Melinda Blind admits the thought of growing up to be mayor would have sent her little girl self running to a closet: “You grow, you age, you learn, and you develop confidence. Now is a good time in my life to move forward.”
Blind said all that Fort Madison has to offer is a selling point to run for mayor, “I put a lot of thought into running. I'd lost my mother in March, my son in April, and a family member experienced a loss that affected everyone in the family.”
A resident also approached her about running:
“They said, ‘you know what needs to be done, what a mayor is supposed to do. You’ve sat next to the mayor for thirteen years and worked with the council.”
Blind, opposed by four others on the ballot, won the election with 57% percent of the vote. During her campaign, Blind posted informational videos to her campaign Facebook page. Her focus strayed away from the typical, “Vote for me, vote for me,” and instead aimed to make residents feel informed on Fort Madison and local government. Blind plans to continue her videos in an effort to inform the residents of Fort Madison.
Through our conversation, I admitted to Blind that most of my knowledge about local government comes from watching the fictional TV show, Parks & Recreation. Rather than judging my lack of knowledge, she saw it as an opportunity to learn. She explained the difference between self-funded items (water, sewer, garbage, etc.) and items that are fully-funded or partially-funded by the general fund (fire, police, administration, cemetery maintenance... and parks and recreation).
The decisions of our local government can impact the quality of our water, parks, cemeteries, and more. Budget issues may arise when a state tax is cut, requiring the city to make adjustments. In Blind’s twenty-nine years working for the city, she has sat in meetings, awaiting the possibility that her position might be cut. During her first year, she experienced this firsthand: “At one time, my position was cut. Fortunately, someone was moving, and I was able to slide into a different position. That was a scary thing for me.”
The number of city positions today is drastically different. Despite these changes, the city continues to find ways to make things work while making decisions with taxpayers in mind.
Budget issues are not new for small towns. During the election, one of the candidates proposed the idea of moving towards a partially paid, partially volunteer fire department. Blind believes in careful consideration of any major changes, like the one proposed, knowing that it would affect people. “In any serious change, getting input from taxpayers would be the priority,” said Blind.
Blind’s priority for Fort Madison is centered on growth and prosperity. Her first twelve months will be focused on getting through the current budget and trying to find ways to improve communication between the residents and the city. “An issue I see is not everyone being connected,” Blind explained. “Not everyone has Facebook, not everyone goes online. A priority will be figuring out ways to reach a large segment of the population, to get the information out there.” Right now, with so much content across platforms, it can be difficult to come across information unless you’re actively looking for it.
Something you might not know to look for could be the packet that goes along with each city council meeting. Blind said that there is a lot more to a city council meeting than just the agenda. “There’s a whole packet that’s available for the public to view; it's an open record.” You can go to the city council website, hit the council packet, and look at everything the city council receives for that meeting. Blind wants to find new ways to market the information for residents to be aware that it is there.
In a world of fun mayors or serious mayors, Blind hopes to be an informative mayor. “I’m just me. I want to be approachable,” Blind said. She has met with the city manager in preparation to step into her new role. “I’m looking at ways to communicate, including office hours at City Hall. At times, I may even say, ‘Hey, I’m going to be down at Swed from 10 to 11. Come talk to me.’” Blind hopes to be a mayor with whom anyone can sit down and have a conversation. Anyone can also reach out to Blind or the city council members by email through the city website.
The city has upcoming projects to continue, going into this next term. Grant money projects include some streets being redone and bridges in town being replaced. There is a consent decree for a sewer separation project downtown. “During the sewer project, intersections will be replaced as you move along the selected blocks. You’re going to have your middle sections and sidewalks that need to be updated. There’s going to be a lot of disturbance downtown. The landscape of downtown can change,” said Blind.
There are developments in the private sector for our town as well.

There is a group working towards a new playground down at the riverfront. Blind believes this playground will be a staple for our residents’ families, along with the use of visitors. She is all for the idea of continued development. Blind believes it’s been nearly 50 years since a single developer has constructed as many residences as Green Oak Development: “I am very excited about the housing projects.” Projects like these will mold this town for more young families to connect with.
Blind sees Fort Madison as an interconnected community.
“A community to me is a big wheel. You’ve got all these little spokes and all these different pieces. Your people are one, businesses are another, places to volunteer, it’s all connected,” said Blind.
She encourages residents to get out of their shells and connect more in the community.
“[Residents] can volunteer for the food pantry, the animal shelter, the Newberry Center, or the art center. But for people who need to connect, they go out to these places, and they connect to these things. Even just joining a book club at the library or Bent Oak Book Club, citizens are connecting with others.”
Blind is grateful to connect her previous work as a city clerk to her new role as mayor.
“I’m going to be the one banging on the gavel instead of the one taking the notes. I feel that I’m going to be very fortunate because when something comes up, I’m going to be able to view it from the old side, as a city clerk, and then take a step back and view it as the mayor would. I will have the benefit of looking at it from both sides,” said Blind.
Her ability to see things through different perspectives goes further than her city clerk experience.
Blind grew up frugally: “My parents were products of the Depression and World War II, which brought many shortages. I knew how many hours my father had to work to buy me a pair of blue jeans or a lunchbox.”
Blind has not refrained from hard work and trying new things. Her first job was as an office temp at a local fertilizer plant, until the industry in the area closed and the country fell into a recession. This made it hard to find full-time work with so many more qualified individuals being thrown back into the workforce. She worked in fast food for a while before needing to take leave for her children to be born, with no benefits.
“I had to stop working two and a half months before my twins were born. I got nothing, no pay, and I realized I can’t keep doing this. I need to do something different.” Blind searched for jobs that would provide benefits.
Blind started at Sheaffer’s for four months before their next round of lay-offs. “You know the tiny white dots in the pens? That was my job. I would pick up a famous Sheaffer White Dot, dip it in glue, put it in the pen, tap it in, and then roll the pen to lock the White Dot. I did thousands a day.” She went on to college courses, learning how to use WordPerfect, which she had never used before.
“Then I landed a job at the Daily Democrat, where I worked in the newsroom. I did a few stories, was a photographer a few times, typed in Letters to the Editor. I had a column called ‘This or That.’” Her career continued as a legal secretary at the Napier, Wright, and Wolf law firm. Blind’s following role for the city included a return to her previous boss, when John Wright took the mayor's role.
Blind remembers Judge Wright, former mayor, as an even-keeled mayor who liked efficient meetings. “John Wright is a great guy. Every mayor is different. Matt Mohrfeld was really good for sound bites. I liked his saying, ‘You can’t hit a target, unless you set one.’"
As Fort Madison continues to develop, Blind hopes to prioritize communication in our town. Despite a year of difficult loss that Blind has experienced, her face lights up as she discusses the town and her love of jazz music. 
I’m excited for Melinda to find her rhythm in this new role.