Actually, Olympia

About Actually, Olympia

Olympia City Manager Jay Burney and Assistant City Manager Stacey Ray share what's happening at the City and dig into topics that matter to the community.

Publisher

OlyTV3

Category

government

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

13 May 2024

Latest episode

9 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

5 of 15 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   9 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Why Climate Action Matters

   Host Jay and Host Stacey interview Dr. Pamela Braff and the City's Climate Team about the importance of local climate action.

2. 

   30 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Lobby Talk

   Host Jay and Host Stacey interview Kyla Shkerich Blair, Olympia's State lobbyist, to demystify the practice and purpose of lobbying.

3. 

   4 May 2026TRANSCRIPT

   New Police Chief Shelby Parker

   Jay and Stacey sit down with Olympia Police Department’s new Chief, Shelby Park, to talk about her passion for serving the community—especially in critical moments—and her commitment to building trust and helping people feel safe.

4. 

   15 Apr 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Inspire Olympia

   Jay and Stacey sit down with the amazing team behind the Inspire Olympia program, a voter-approved initiative that dedicates a portion of Olympia’s sales tax to local nonprofit organizations offering arts, sciences, heritage, and cultural programs in Olympia and the Olympia.

5. 

   23 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Priority-based Budgeting

   Jay and Stacey sit down with Assistant City Manager, Debbie Sullivan, to discuss the 2026 budget and the City's transition to an innovative new approach (Priority-based budgeting) that makes it easier for community members and decision makers to see what we do, why we do it, and how much it costs.

6. 

   22 Jan 2026

   Hanging with Councilmember Cooper

   Jay and Stacey sit down with outgoing Olympia City Councilmember Jim Cooper to talk about his 15 years of service.

7. 

   5 Dec 2025

   How the City Addresses Homeless Encampments

   Jay and Stacey sit down with Kim Kondrat (Homeless Response Coordinator) for an in-depth discussion about Olympia's approach to encampments, recent successes, lessons learned, and what's starting to be planned for the regions last remaining encampment.

8. 

   17 Jul 2025

   Mayor Dontae Payne: Reparations

   Mayor Dontae Payne sits down with Jay and Kellie to talk about everything the City is doing around reparations and why it is so important to him.

9. 

   16 Jun 2025

   Meet the Directors- Community Planning & Economic Development

   Hosts Jay and Kellie interview Jennica Machado, Economic Development Director, and Susan McLaughlin, Community Planning & Economic Development Director, about their new roles and future goals for the city.

10. 

    15 May 2025

    Youth Council

    Assistant to the City Manager Susan Grisham details the creation of the Youth Council, and Olympia Youth Council members Shuruthi Lingam-Nattamai & Nolan O'Connell discuss their roles as developing community leaders.

11. 

    5 Mar 2025

    Olympia Parks

    Paul Simmons and Sylvana Niehuser talk to Jay and Kellie about the past, present, and future of Olympia parks projects.

12. 

    21 Jan 2025

    The 2025 Budget

    The 2025 Budget was rough. In this special episode of the podcast, Jay and Kellie talk about how we got here, what we're doing to build a sustainable budget for the future, and how important it was/is for us to protect and care for our employees.

13. 

    12 Aug 2024

    The Chiefs

    The Olympia Fire Department and Police Department Chiefs Matt Morris and Rich Allen join Jay and Kellie in this month's episode.

14. 

    20 Jun 2024

    Economic Development Director Mike Reid

    In episode 2, Jay and Kellie go in depth with our Economic Development Director, Mike Reid. They discuss Mike’s deep roots in Olympia, the lasting effects of COVID on our community, Olympia Strong, and the City’s unique, people-centered approach to Economic Development.

15. 

    13 May 2024

    Director of Housing & Homeless Response Darian Lightfoot

    Jay and Kellie are joined by Olympia's Director of Housing & Homeless Response, Darian Lightfoot.

Inside a recent episode

Why Climate Action Matters

Published 9 Sept 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] And so we have a small dedicated team. You're going to meet most of those folks today. And we work on different pieces of that puzzle. But it really is a citywide approach. It's not something that we do on our own. It's not something that any city can do on their own. It's certainly not something that any department or program or team can do on their own. So at Olympia, our approach to climate work is really a citywide approach. It's every department's responsibility. Every department has a role to play in that. And so one of the things we do within our team is help the city pull that all together, really come up with a comprehensive strategy for what does it look like for the city to work together, for staff to work together, to advance council's climate goals, and what role does our team play in supporting that. […]

Who has been a guest on Actually, Olympia

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Pamela Braff
• Kyla Shkerich Blair
• Jennica Machado
• Susan McLaughlin

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.2 / 5

12 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 23 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

9

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

91

Contact Actually, Olympia

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Actually, Olympia