Popular stripper Viva Las Vegas announced her bid for Portland’s mayor’s office and laid out her plans for the city, the Willamette Week reported Tuesday.
The stripper, who has no political background, laid out some of her plans to solve the city’s escalating problems in an interview with Willamette Week. Her vision includes a restructured government with a professional city administrator and a 12-member City Council to enhance city policy and legislation. Viva, whose real name is Liv Osthus, also suggests that infusing the arts could revitalize Portland’s core.
“We have a lot of data and a lot of metrics, but the money still doesn’t go to the people who really need the services,” Osthus explained when asked about her plan to win over voters.
Stripper running for mayor of ultra-woke Portland plans to combat exodus from city by building arts center https://t.co/X0wcItkBRL pic.twitter.com/RA5fB4REMC
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“If downtown comes back, that can lift all boats. If we could start seeing downtown blooming again, if you put an art studio downtown, very soon you’d have a coffee shop. Very soon you’d have a lunch place. Very soon you would create concentric circles outward from it. Artists will bring energy back downtown. And as energy comes, there will be more hope,” Osthus said. (RELATED: Portland Police Open Arson Probe After Car Set Ablaze Outside Tough-On-Crime Mayoral Candidate’s Home)
She also explained why she decided to run for office. “I really want to advocate in this campaign more than anything [for artists and small businesses]. Because that, to me, is the soul of the city. That’s the way we’re going to come back as a city,” she said.
Osthus addressed the skepticism of people in electing a mayor who is a stripper. “If the stripper thing is so damning, they could watch my TED Talk, or read the book, or watch the movie,” she told Willamette Week. “Strippers are amazingly strong, graceful human beings inside and out. I would invite them into Mary’s to let me change their minds.”
Osthus is a prominent figure in Portland’s art scene and a dedicated advocate for sex workers, according to Willamette Week. Other than her profession, she’s also an author and musician. After earning a degree from Williams College and moving to Portland, Osthus has been actively involved in the community, contributing through her memoir, a documentary and an opera based on her life.