Washington County Commissioner Nafisa Fai called out a "culture of fear" under resigned Chair Kathryn Harrington at a press conference Tuesday, Sept. 22.

Fai spoke outside the Washington County Public Services Building in Hillsboro, one week after Harrington made an obscene gesture toward her during a public work session. State legislators, Metro Council members and elected officials from Beaverton and Hillsboro stood alongside her. The turnout signaled broad support for Fai's bid to become the next county chair, OPB reported.

The race matters locally. Beaverton sits in Washington County, and the winner of the Nov. 3 runoff will lead the five-member board that oversees services across the region.

"Unfortunately, this incident was simply the last in a long line of previously documented behavior," Fai said at the press conference. "It's about more than one action, the actions of one leader."

Fai, who moved to the U.S. as a refugee from Somalia as a teenager, is the only person of color to have ever served on the Washington County commission. She said it was unacceptable for others to "go along" with the culture Harrington established.

Harrington announced her resignation Monday, Sept. 21, effective Oct. 2.

Harrington's pattern

The Sept. 15 gesture was not an isolated incident. KOIN reported that in 2015, while Harrington served as a Metro councilor, the Metro president sent her a letter saying she was creating a "climate of fear, hostility, anxiety, and emotional distress." Washington County paid an outside investigator in 2022 to examine her conduct during public meetings. Harrington did not deny she could use disrespectful body language toward employees and others, according to KOIN.

Commissioners Jason Snider, Jerry Willey and Pam Treece issued a joint statement Sept. 17 calling Harrington's conduct "simply unacceptable" and demanding her resignation or censure. Fai was not among the signers, according to Valley Times.

The runoff takes shape

Both candidates to replace Harrington moved quickly to distance themselves from her. Fai and fellow Commissioner Pam Treece face each other in the Nov. 3 runoff after neither won a majority in May's primary.

Treece renounced Harrington's endorsement on Sept. 16, the day after the gesture, and pledged to return a $10,000 donation Harrington had made to her campaign in August, according to state campaign finance records cited by the Hillsboro News-Times. In a statement that day, Treece said leaders must "hold ourselves to higher standards for our speech and our actions."

Treece told KOIN on Sept. 22 that she was pleased with Harrington's decision to resign. She called the gesture an "egregious breach of decorum and professionalism."

Harrington, first elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022, chose not to seek reelection this year. Vice Chair Jerry Willey will preside over board meetings after Harrington's departure Oct. 2. The new chair takes office Jan. 3, 2027.

Washington County voters will choose between Fai and Treece on the Nov. 3 ballot.