Seven Tigard-area elected officials called on Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington to resign Wednesday, Sept. 16.

The demand followed Harrington raising her middle finger toward Commissioner Nafisa Fai during a public Board of Commissioners work session Tuesday, Sept. 15.

The coalition includes Tigard Mayor Yi-Kang Hu, Tigard City Council President Maureen Wolf, state Reps. Ben Bowman and Sue Rieke Smith, state Sen. Courtney Neron Misslin, and Tigard-Tualatin School Board Chair David Jaimes and Vice Chair Tristan Irvin.

In a joint statement, the group said raising a middle finger toward a colleague during a public meeting was a blatant failure to meet the standard expected of a county chair, according to the Beaverton Valley Times.

The officials said the moment requires full accountability and formally called on Harrington to step down.

Harrington apologized in a statement Wednesday but did not address the resignation calls or say whether she plans to leave. "My reaction was very plainly not appropriate in any instance," Harrington said. "I should not have behaved in such a hurtful manner."

The gesture happened during the communication portion of the board's Tuesday work session. Video from the meeting shows Harrington asked Fai to move out of her sightline, then appeared to raise her middle finger, the Hillsboro News-Times reported. Fai was the only person looking directly at Harrington. She briefly interrupted the meeting to ask if anyone else saw it. No one responded.

Fai, the first Muslim and first Black person on the Washington County commission according to KOIN, said the behavior was the equivalent of flipping off the people elected officials are sworn to serve.

Commissioner Pam Treece said Tuesday she would return a $10,000 campaign contribution from Harrington and removed Harrington's endorsement from her campaign website. Treece and Fai face each other in a Nov. 3 runoff to succeed Harrington as county chair. Harrington chose not to seek reelection.

Incoming Commissioner Felcita Monteblanco, who won her seat in May, also encouraged Harrington to step down, calling her behavior "deeply saddening," The Oregonian reported. The Oregonian reported that Beaverton officials had not responded to a request for comment on the resignation call as of Wednesday.

The resignation demand is not the first time Harrington has faced scrutiny over her conduct. The Oregonian reported that a 2022 investigation found her treatment of county employees was abusive. She publicly apologized for yelling at an employee in March and said she was stepping back from key duties as chair.

The county chair leads the legislative body overseeing a $2 billion budget. The position pays $145,840 a year. Harrington has more than two months left in her final term.

County spokesman Philip Bransford told KGW that under the county charter, the county administrator lacks authority to discipline elected officials. Any action would need to come from the board itself. The Board of Commissioners was scheduled to hold an executive session at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16.