Ensuring Princeton is ready to seize opportunity and provide homes and services for a growing population is, in Rosemary Doughty’s opinion, one of the most important issues in the upcoming municipal election.
Doughty, who has served four years as a councillor, is standing for re-election.
“Serving on council is keeping your eye on the big picture, on the context of things and what is going to be changing,” she said in an interview with The Spotlight.
“When I look to the future I see the big picture, the influences on Princeton. One of them is the economic and housing trends in Vancouver. People are selling their homes for one, two and three million dollars and looking for a smaller community to live in. Houses are selling here and houses are being built and this is the beginning of a trend,” she said.
“We really have to work on housing, making Princeton attractive to developers.”
Over the past term Doughty has served on numerous committees, representing Princeton on the Okanagan Regional Library Board and the Joint Standing Committee on Health for the South Okanagan Similkameen Rural Corridor Community Coalition. She also worked on the local museum and arts council boards, was a Chamber of Commerce liaison, and sat on the urban deer management committee, the Princeton Health Care Steering Committee, Anchorage Community Partnerships Committee, Local Immigration Partnership Committee and the Princeton Airport Committee.
These responsibilities - along with regular council business - account for about 20 hours of work each week.
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“I have confidence in being a councillor because my work performance has been strong on all of these committees that I serve on and the tasks I take up,” she said.
Last year Doughty also organized a successful health fair and spearheaded a public forum on the opioid crisis.
“I’m hard working, proactive and involved in the community in a positive way.”
A former victims services worker with the RCMP, and past coordinator of the Cindy Parolin Safe Homes Program, Doughty also volunteers behind the scenes with many groups. She donates time to the Princeton museum as a greeter, contributes to the John Allison Community Garden Program, and lends a hand at numerous community events like Canada Day and Christmas Light Up.
She doesn’t separate official council business from the balance of her community work.
“Being on council isn’t just a position,” she said. “I’m still a member of the community and it’s important to me to participate. I love being a member of this community and that’s why you see me doing volunteer work in different places.”
Doughty makes no apologies for her position on the KVR.
“I support the use of the Trans Canada Trail through Princeton for people who are walking and running, walking their dogs, riding their bicycles, improving their health and caring for the environment. I cannot see how a mixed use trail can work as pedestrians will always be at risk,” she said.
“I walk the trail frequently and I was run off the trail by motorized vehicles on many occasions - not once or twice but on many, many occasions.”
She fully supports council’s proposal for an indoor aquatic and wellness centre.
“I think that this is something that Princeton really deserves. I know so many families that are just longing for it and I’ve got to tell you that I am too.”
Doughty moved to Princeton in 1997 from Vancouver, has travelled extensively and lived for two years in Zimbabwe. She studied anthropology and English literature at Capilano College, and took women’s studies and psychology at Simon Fraser University.
“I really care about this community and I trust myself in the role of councillor. I have been tested on that.”
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