Washington County commissioners convened a closed-door executive session Wednesday, Sept. 16, one day after Chair Kathryn Harrington appeared to give Commissioner Nafisa Fai the middle finger during a public meeting.

The board's agenda lists a single item for the 5:30 p.m. session: consideration of "the dismissal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against, a public officer." The session was held under Oregon Revised Statute 192.660(2)(b) and was closed to the public. Under that same statute, news media representatives may attend such sessions even though the public is excluded.

The agenda does not name the public officer in question.

Interim County Counsel Cortney Duke-Driessen is listed as the session's presenter.

What happened Tuesday

During the Sept. 15 work session, Harrington asked Commissioner Jason Snider about Metro's supportive housing services program. She then told Fai to move out of her sightline. Video from the meeting shows Harrington appearing to direct an obscene gesture at Fai moments later.

Fai paused the meeting. "Could you pause for a second? Did you see the finger? Did anybody see that?" she asked, according to the Hillsboro News-Times. No one responded.

Harrington apologized in a written statement Sept. 15, calling her behavior inappropriate, KOIN reported.

What the law allows

Under Oregon law, no final action or decision can be made in executive session. Any formal discipline or censure of an elected official would require a subsequent public vote.

County spokesperson Philip Bransford said Sept. 15 that county code does not allow the county administrator to discipline elected officials. Any decision would need to come from the board itself, The Oregonian reported.

Commissioner Pam Treece said in a statement Sept. 15 that she would work with other board members to decide whether further action is needed. Treece also said she would return a $10,000 campaign contribution Harrington made in August and remove Harrington's endorsement from her campaign website.

Treece and Fai are opponents in the Nov. 3 runoff for Washington County chair. Harrington chose not to seek reelection.

Local precedent

The Hillsboro City Council censured Councilor Cristian Salgado in July for an alleged gesture at a public meeting. That censure removed Salgado from committee assignments, cut his monthly stipend in half and required him to attend council meetings virtually.

Washington County is Oregon's second-largest county. The chair leads the board overseeing a $2 billion budget, and the position pays $145,840 a year.

Because no final action can happen behind closed doors, any formal discipline would come at a future public board meeting where residents could testify.