Woodland City Council’s newest member wants the city to be the kind of place that drew her to the community five years ago after decades of moving around.
During its April 18 meeting, the council appointed Melissa Doughty to a seat on the council with a 6-0 vote. Doughty was one of six applicants for the position left vacant by former councilor Dave Plaza after he resigned in February. Of the six, five attended an interview at the end of the city council’s meeting as they shared why they wanted to fill the seat.
Alongside Doughty, who is a long-term substitute teaching English language arts at Woodland Public Schools, there was mortgage loan processor Karen L. Shattuck and equipment operating engineer Robert Richardson who are relative newcomers to the city. The applicants also included former city councilor Janice Graham and past council candidate Keith Bellisle. Retired U.S. Air Force officer Edward Linnett applied for the seat but did not attend the interview.
Doughty said her family moved to Woodland in 2017. After moving across the country with her husband who was in the U.S. Navy, he retired after 23 years of service at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made putting down roots in the city a possibility.
“Now we’re making Woodland our home, and not just a stop … in the middle of our journey,” Doughty said.
Most of Doughty’s prior community decision-making experience has been in committees in the Meriwether neighborhood, she said. She said the idea to run in the 2021 election crossed her mind, but the time to file had passed.
“This is kind of my real first push to get actively involved, I would say, beyond just little things here and there,” Doughty said.
Acknowledging growth in the city is inevitable, she wants to make sure the council is “growing Woodland in the right way and making sure it’s done to still be a town I’m proud of.”
Doughty wants to make sure the city works with developers and businesses. She wants the council to ensure “they’re here for the community and not just for a dollar.”
“I’ve moved my whole life, and so to kind of finally have somewhere I can say I don’t think I have to leave is really nice for a change,” Doughty said.
She said she wants to be an “ambassador” for younger families in the city so they have “buy-in” on decision-making. Doughty wants to build community relationships so people feel heard.
“As we have more and more people move in from outside of Woodland, it’s important to make them feel a part of the community and not as an outsider, so that they want to continue to stay,” Doughty said.
After deliberating in an executive session, councilors voted to appoint Doughty. Several councilors said the candidate pool made the decision especially difficult.
“It’s unusual that we have such good-quality people to show up to apply to the city council position,” Councilor Carol Rounds said.
Councilor Monte Smith said choosing one applicant over the other was “soul-sucking.”
“It is a very, very hard decision,” Smith said.
Councilor DeeAnna Holland encouraged those who were not appointed to seek elected office the next time a position came to the end of a term.
“The best way you can be a part of the conversation is to be here making decisions,” Holland said.
