Salem politics are going brat.
Departing Ward 1 City Councilor Virginia Stapleton and Vik Schaaf, a local educator who handled social media when Stapleton ran unsuccessfully for House District 21, partnered for the “demobrats” podcast.
The name and the podcast’s neon green color scheme and font stem from pop singer Charli XCX’s recent album and ensuing “Brat Summer,” during which the singer endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the race for president.
Stapleton said she’s been thinking of the podcast for more than a year and would jot down topic ideas while serving on council.
She said her desire to counteract misinformation and lack of information on the city’s $17.7 million budget shortfall and statewide factors leading to the revenue woes spurred her to create the podcast.
“It’s hyper-focused on local government and really helping people understand,” Stapleton said. “The politics that you can see, touch, feel and experience are all local, right? People think politics, and they think the White House or Congress. All those are very important, but the things that are impacting people’s day-to-day lives here in the Salem, Keizer, Marion County and Polk County areas are really your local government.”
Recent topics include a candid interview with outgoing Mayor Chris Hoy, Stapleton’s and Schaaf’s takeaways from a letter from business groups to the council calling for a committee to examine the city’s budget and a three-part breakdown of the city’s budget shortfall and problems caused by Oregon’s passage of Measures 5 and 50.
The episodes, which run from a 12-minute bonus episode to a meaty 107-minute analysis of the payroll tax, have a conversational tone, and the hosts typically kick off each one with a list of three things they found fun or interesting that week.
“We wanted to bring joy back to politics,” Stapleton said. “Being engaged locally and civically should be a joyful thing.”
She said she’s been surprised about the reception of the podcast, especially its popularity with the younger generation. She had one of her teen daughter’s friends thank her for the podcast because she couldn’t fit a government class into her class schedule.
“We really want to reach those folks because we need them to be engaged as they look into entering adulthood,” Stapleton said.
She and Schaaf aim to release weekly episodes but also try to respond to breaking news like the business group letter to council.
Stapleton hopes the podcast will grow and people will reach out with concerns and topics they are curious about.
“I would love to have people join us and and reach out and and share any kind of questions that they have,” she said. “Of course, in the next six months, this is going to be hugely important for the city of Salem with our budget concerns, and I am hoping to use the space to do what I can to help the city move forward.”
The podcast is available on Spotify and Apple.
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on X at @wmwoodworth
