Trust is the foundation for democracy; without it, people don't willingly engage with government policy. Our guest today is Jennifer McGuirk who keeps government agencies accountable. Jennifer is Multnomah County’s Auditor which means that she examines data to determine if there's been, abuse or mismanagement of government programs.

Since being sworn into office in 2019 the auditor's office, under Jennifer’s oversight,  has released multiple reports touching on topics including services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and Multnomah County's response to the covid-19 pandemic. In our interview, we discuss what compelled Jennifer to run for office, redistricting, and how auditors office works with the community.

If you suspect fraud, waste, and abuse of position contact the Good Government Hotline: 888-289-6839. Calls are not recorded and caller ID is disabled.

Kathleen Saadat has been called the conscience of Portland, Oregon. Here, Saadat talks about organizing Portland’s first gay pride parade, as well as the campaign to beat Measure 9 in 1992, a homophobic amendment to the Oregon Constitution. Kathleen also discussed coalition building and intersectional organizing as well as her work with the Portland Police Bureau and her thoughts on Black Lives Matter.

Cliff Jones, a Portland activist calls Kathleen a " ‘connector.’  No matter the issue, he says she strives to 'reach across differences.' ‘I describe her as velvet and steel,’ Jones says. ‘She’s incredibly compassionate and sees the humanity in everyone, even those with whom she vehemently disagrees. At the same time, her mind is a matrix, thinking down and across and over and under, seeing every side of an issue.’"

Kathleen has lived a remarkable life: at the age of 77, she released her first album, Love for Sale, which she recorded with the internationally acclaimed band Pink Martini.

Women makeup 51% of the US population and yet account for only 24% of the Senate and 27% of the House of Representatives. How can women start to change that landscape? Jillian Schoene, Emerge Oregon’s departing Executive Director, joins us to discuss how her organization trains and empowers Democratic women to run for public office.

Highlights and soundbites from the interview

No one runs and wins alone.

4:26-What I love about our program is…the cohort model because these women get to know each other and then when they do go on to run for office they can contact each other and be supported by each other. Or be reminded by them about how to do X Y or Z because it's impossible to remember it all and no one runs in wins alone.

Local politics

8:34 “I think there's a lot of attention on the state and the Congressional level but we have women that are just thriving in leadership roles at the school board and parks and district,

levels, (and city council)and that is really where policy is implemented really quickly and impacts people's lives immediately. 

Why it’s important to focus on training women from outside of Portland, OR to run for office

11:36 You know from Bend, or Pendleton, OR Klamath Falls…Those are women that we definitely need to be working with…because most likely in their communities the left side of the spectrum is probably not being represented…Probably no one else on that City Council or School Board shares your values and so getting them ready to run and at those decision making tables, it's incredibly important for the long-term health of democracy in our state.

Most of the Emerge Oregon candidates are working parents

16:33: "Most of our women who run are also working parents and so I campaign is like the third or fourth thing on their plate and so you know when they have a question… I try to respond as quickly as possible because I know the time is ticking"

23:30: "Democracy is all of our responsibilities, including recruiting and choosing our elected leaders"

While the 2020 Presidential Election saw an unprecedented voter turnout, the fight to end voter suppression and discrimination rages on. 

 We’re joined by Leigh Chapman, Senior Director of the Voting Rights Program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, to discuss today’s barriers to the ballot box, legislative efforts combating them such as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act(HR4), and the For People Act Act (HR1). Chapman and our host (Janice Hebert) discuss the pros and cons of a decentralized voting system and why The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is pushing the federal government to make more uniform, national standards when it comes to voting.  Chapman also discussed her Beyoncé connection.

 As Leigh put it, “our democracy works best when more people can participate.”

Attorney Molly Washington discusses the Native American vote with Amanda WhiteEagle and journalist, Anna V. Smith who covers indigenous affairs for High Country News.  In 2020 WhiteEagle ran to represent District 92 in the Wisconsin State Assembly, in this interview she discusses the hurdles she faced and the lessons she learned. The three of them discuss the role the Native American vote played in the 2020 election and the significance of President Biden appointing Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) to act as the first Native American secretary to the interior. 

Mary Beatty should be a well-known figure in women's history: she was one of the first Black women (west of the Mississippi) to publicly advocate for woman suffrage. Decades before women won the right to vote, Mary Beatty and 3 other white women attempted to vote. When asked why they voted, each responded: “I am an American citizen, and have the right to vote.” The next year, she participated in the first convention of the Oregon State Woman Suffrage Association. These are just a few of the accomplishments in Mary Beatty’s life. Yet despite her achievements, very little was known about Mary Beatty until last year. We spoke to, Jean Ward, who researched Mary Beatty’s story. Ward is a Professor Emerita of Communication at Lewis & Clark College.

Professor Ward spoke to our lead host, Celia Howes about Beatty’s life and how she uncovered Beatty’s story in history. Gathering research was difficult, a process that Ward said made her feel like she was in “the Hansel and Gretel story, following the crumbs as you go into the forest,” but bit by bit the story came together.”

Despite significant obstacles, the US had the highest voter turnout since 1908. How did it happen? Myrna Pérez, director of the Brennan Center's Voting Rights and Elections Program, joined us to discuss what we accomplished in the 2020 election, what we learned, and what comes next.

Is there even such a thing as the Latinx vote? It’s not the monolith some may think. So says Jessica Vega Pederson, Commissioner for Multnomah County, Oregon and the state’s first Latina House Representative.  

In this episode, Jessica touches on why Latinx voters should be appreciated for their diversity, the importance of Latinx representation at the local and national level, how to dismantle barriers that prevent women and people of color from flourishing, and much more.

Vote-by-mail, elections, and voting in general have been on everyone’s mind these days, which is why we spoke to an expert, Dr. Peter Miller. Miller is a social scientist at The Brennan Center for Justice, which is a non-partisan law and policy institute. We discussed the systems that affect voter turnout and equitable representation in our electorate. We asked if voter security is an issue in a vote-by-mail system.

Albert Lee was born in South Korea to an African-American soldier father and a Korean mother.  When he was five years old; he moved to the states. He grew up working-class. His background drove him to public service: In 2020 he ran for Congress; before his bid for election he graduated from law school and was the academic Dean at Portland Oregon’s Community College. “My background is that of folks who are often not heard or seen and not included. And that was part of the call to serve the public.” Lee spoke to Iván Resendiz Gutierrez about concrete obstacles Latinx and BIPOC face when voting. Iván Resendiz Gutierrez is a litigation and appellate attorney in the Portland office of Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP.