Oregon county chairwoman flips off fellow member during publicly broadcast meeting: wild video

A not-so-subtle local Oregon politician was caught on camera flipping off a fellow attendee during a livestreamed meeting Tuesday morning. 

Embattled Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington flipped chair-hopeful Commissioner Nafisa Fai the bird after a short but tense exchange stemming from the latter supposedly blocking the Chairwoman’s view, the Oregonian reported. 

The heated exchange unfolded after Harrington abruptly interrupted the meeting and asked Fai to “stop getting in the way of my sight line” of Commissioner Jason Snider. 

Fai appears to adjust her chair twice before Harrington pushes her own chair back, slams her hands on the table and seemingly gives the finger to Fai while the other board members are looking away, footage from the livestream shows.

Snider proceeds to answer Harrington’s housing question before Fai interrupts the meeting to ask if anyone saw Harrington’s sly middle finger.

“Could you pause for a second? Did you see the finger?” Fai said. 

“Did anybody see that?” the dumbfounded commissioner questioned. 

None of the board members responded and Fai then told the meeting to continue.

Snider then quipped, “Maybe I can help by moving.”

Commissioner Pam Treece, who was in attendance at the public meeting Tuesday morning, called on Harrington to apologize to both Fai and county residents for her behavior. 

Treece said she was “shocked and disappointed” after reviewing the publicly available livestream in a statement, according to KGW.

“As leaders, we have to hold ourselves to higher standards for our speech and our actions. And when we fall short, we need to acknowledge it, take responsibility, and do better in the future,” Treece continued. 

“I will be working with my fellow commissioners to determine what further action is required,” Treece said, adding that she would return a recent contribution Harrington made to her campaign and remove the chair’s endorsement from her website. 

“Commissioner Fai and I are opponents in the race for Washington County Chair, and we don’t always agree. But I strongly believe that disagreement should never prevent us from treating one another with respect,” Treece said. 

Treece highlighted that “sadly, here in Washington County, as we are seeing in Portland and across the country, we are experiencing a rise in intolerance for differences of opinion and differences in approaches to problem-solving.”

“This should be concerning to us all,” she slammed. 

Harrington issued an apology Tuesday afternoon, calling her actions “unprofessional.”

“I formally and personally apologize to Commissioner Nafisa Fai, my other fellow district commissioner board members, to our Washington County workforce and the community for my unprofessional response to Commission[er] Fai in our work session meeting this morning,” she said in the statement.

“My reaction was very plainly not appropriate in any instance. I should not have behaved in such a hurtful manner.”

Tuesday’s incident is not the first time Harrington has landed in hot water over allegations of troubling behavior.

Two former employees told the Oregonian that even after a 2022 investigation into her treatment of county employees found her conduct was abusive, she continued to misbehave.

More recently, a report alleged the chairwoman yelled at an employee in March, leaving the staffer in tears.

Harrington issued a public apology at the time and advised she would be stepping back from key duties within her role as chair.