‘A direct harm to Black, African and African American communities,’ leaders condemn Washington County chair

A Washington County leader’s obscene gesture toward a fellow commissioner has prompted widespread backlash, particularly among Oregon elected leaders of color.

During a board of commissioners work session Tuesday, Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington raised her middle finger at Commissioner Nafisa Fai. Fai paused for a moment to ask if anyone saw the gesture. When no one responded, Harrington continued the previous conversation.

In a video recording of the incident, it’s not immediately clear what prompted Harrington’s gesture, which happens at 22:30. Before making the gesture, Harrington was talking to Commissioner Jason Snider. She had previously asked Fai to not block her “line of sight” toward Snider.

Harrington is set to leave her post as county chair at the end of the year. Fai is running for the seat against another Washington County commissioner, Pam Treece.

Harrington’s abusive behavior has been well documented and aimed at numerous people including commissioners and staffers. During public meetings, Fai has often borne the brunt of this behavior. Fai moved to the U.S. as a refugee from Somalia as a teenager and is the only person of color to have ever served on the Washington County commission.

Harrington did not respond to OPB’s request for comment Wednesday, though she apologized to Fai in statements to other news outlets, saying she “should not have behaved in such a hurtful manner.”

In the fallout, support for Fai has been strongest from other leaders of color.

“What happened in that meeting was not a lapse in decorum, nor was it just a moment of disrespect,” Portland Community College board member Kien Truong wrote on social media. “This is how elected officials, often the ones with the most institutional power, undermine, intimidate, and make elected officials of color, especially those who are also immigrant or refugee, feel like they do not belong at the table.”

Kuong also called on Harrington to resign, as did State Rep. Travis Nelson, a Black Democrat from North Portland, and the Oregon Democratic Party’s Black Caucus.

“Flipping off Commissioner Fai was disrespectful, unprofessional, and an embarrassment to Washington County and Democrats across the State of Oregon,” Andre Miller, chair of the Black Caucus, wrote in an email to Harrington Tuesday evening. “It was also a direct harm to Black, African, and African American communities who are watching how people in leadership treat people who look like them.”

Allie Ball, a Black woman running for Milwaukie City Council, said what bothered her most about the incident was the silence that followed.

“That silence matters,” Ball wrote on social media. “And for Black women in Oregon politics, I think we have to be especially honest about what it feels like to watch another Black woman experience disrespect in a room full of people who have the power to intervene and choose not to.”

Fai’s opponent for county chair, Treece, was present at the meeting Tuesday but didn’t noticeably respond to Harrington’s gesture.

In a statement after the meeting, Treece said Harrington’s behavior “cannot stand.” Treece also said she would renounce Harrington’s endorsement in the race and return Harrington’s recent donation of $10,000 to her campaign.

Metro Councilor Juan Carlos Gonzalez said he was not surprised by Harrington’s behavior, as he’s had his own “sharp interactions” with her.

Fai told OPB she was running for chair to change the culture of the commission.

“I’m proud to have the reputation as a leader that treats everyone with respect and dignity, and brings the sense of decorum that voters have a right to expect in their county government,” she said in a statement. “Frankly, behavior like this is the equivalent of flipping off the people we are elected to serve.”

On several occasions, Fai has also been the target of racist, anti-immigrant and Islamophobic rhetoric online. In January, this behavior reached such a degree that Gonzalez, the Metro councilor, called it out along with the “leaders in the establishment” who met racism with silence. No member of the commission publicly acknowledged the racist posts.

The number of elected officials calling for Harrington’s resignation grew Wednesday to include State Sen. Courtney Neron-Misslin, two state representatives, the mayor and council president of Tigard, and the chair and vice chair of the Tigard-Tualatin School Board.

This story may be updated.